Monday Night Movie Night, 7th edition!

This week's Monday Night Movie Night is a little different than most. Usually, these posts feature several YouTube clips on a variety of ag topics I've gathered throughout the course of the week. This time, I have feature length movie for you! Farmland is free on Hulu right now!

Farmland is an award winning documentary, sharing the story of six farmers and their families. I've been fortunate to see it several times already thanks to Iowa Corn, and the movie was one of the things that inspired me to start this blog. So today, on this cold, rainy, fall Monday, curl up with a blanket and enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Wordless Wednesday: Kinda Cheating

This week I kinda cheated on Wordless Wednesday. None of these pictures are actually wordless, but I've been collecting all these infographics for quite a while and finally decided today was the day to share them with you. I'm sure you've noticed I'm kind of a nerd for these little fun facts.

Check out #NationalPorkMonth, Iowa Corn, or Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board for more facts and figures. The Iowa Corn Facebook has had a lot of these great pictures lately so be sure to go "Like" their page for more. As always, thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear your feedback!

Monday Night Movie Night, 6th edition

This week's Monday Night Movie Night is a mix of a few different topics within agriculture that interest me. While browsing through YouTube, it really made me thankful for all the diversity within agriculture.

Recently, I found this super helpful YouTube channel, americashearland. They have all kinds of Agriculture 101 videos that explain common agricultural practices. Check out this one defining crop rotation.

In honor of #NationalPorkMonth, I'm sharing this video of Leah, a hog producer, and her daily morning chores routine. It's so cool to see other people my age advocating for agriculture by sharing their stories.

Did you know Ashton Kutcher is from Iowa? Click below to see the viral video of his "Iowa Story." After CALS Week last week, it really made me take time to think about what he said and I have to agree, "the greatest natural resource in Iowa... [is] the people." 

As always, thanks for reading! I hope you learned a little Agriculture 101, looked into #NationalPorkMonth, and Ashton Kutcher stirred up a little Iowa pride for all you Iowans out there!

Wordless Wednesday: Fall on the Farm

Last week I discovered my friend, Kaci Keitzer's beautiful fall photography and just had to share it for this week's Wordless Wednesday. She shot these gorgeous scenes back home a couple weekends ago. Kaci grew up on a family farm in Mediapolis, Iowa just about a half hour from my hometown of Columbus Junction. We are both studying Agricultural Business at Iowa State University and serve as Peer Mentors together. I'm sure you will enjoy her perspective on soybeans, John Deere equipment, and sheep.

I'm so thankful Kaci let me share her talent with all of you. Take some time to enjoy the beautiful autumn weather and amazing scenery this harvest season! Thanks for reading!

Monday Night Movie Night, 5th edition!

Monday Night Movie Night is back... and it looks like it's here to stay! I've enjoyed all the feedback and video suggestions. Keep it coming!

A couple weeks ago at a Student Federation for Agriculture meeting we had a mini media night. After regular meeting business, we wrote letters to the editor, posted on social media, and watched agricultural videos. I'm kind of a nerd for tidbits and factoids so this clip was one of my favorites. You can always pick up a few interesting pieces of trivia in this sort of thing so watch closely!

I learn more about the pork industry every day. This video taught me how and what farmers feed pigs as they grow and mature. Specifically, I learned why feed is made into pellets. Watch this video and see if you can catch a couple reasons yourself.

In the last year or so, I've had a growing interest in dairy goats. Fortunately, I've been able to tour a few farms and taste some delicious goat cheeses. This video is from one of the dairies I follow on Facebook and hope to visit one day. It does a great job of explaining the business in a brief clip.

Ag facts, pig food, and dairy goats! Hope you've learned as much as I did researching these! Thanks for reading!

Wordless Wednesday: Highlights

Being a student at Iowa State University has given me so many unique opportunities! I wish I could write a blog post explaining each one. For now, here are a few photo highlights. Since school started I've had the chance to play the campanile, mentor Ag Business freshmen, and attend several picnics welcoming back all the students to campus. Meetings and homework fill my schedule, but every once in a while I get the chance to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. 

I'm so thankful for all I've been able to do so far this school year and that I can share a glimpse of it through these photos. Stay tuned for details of all my adventures. Thanks for reading!

Monday Night Movie Night, 4th Edition!

Monday Night Movie Night seems to be a hit and I love the excuse to geek out and watch YouTube videos, so keep reading for the 4th edition!

I know this is a promotion for AgPhD's YouTube channel, and unless you are a serious farmer or researcher some of their videos may not appeal to you, but I thought this clip was pretty neat. You can see many of the major steps in an entire crop year reduced to less than 30 second. This one definitely made me think about all the effort that is put into each kernel of corn that is produced here in Iowa. (Click on the picture below for the link.)

Here's a homemade music video from Huitt Farms, Inc. out of Perry, Iowa. It's getting to be about harvest time so this clip seemed appropriate. For all you country music lovers, take a peek at their YouTube channel for more harvest and planting videos set to some toe tapping tunes. 

Here in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State, we here about the 9 billion people that will populate the world by 2050 almost daily. All those people will need food and fuel. The demands on the agricultural industry and the need for leaders has never been greater. This short clip from Dupont Pioneer was particularly inspiring to me as a reminder that there are lots of people my own age already engaged in finding a solution. It certainly encourages me, and hopefully you, to be among the ranks of those working to achieve food security for the entire globe. 

That's all folks! Hope you enjoyed this week's Monday Night Movie Night as much as I enjoyed creating it. Thanks for reading!