Showing posts with label North Dakota. Show all posts

We Survived 2,166 Miles in 10 days!

The planning for this trip began shortly after the 2024 Summer Ag Tour and continued throughout the year to end with our final destinations confirmed. We hope you will read through all the blogs to learn more about our adventures.

We began flying to Omaha on June 3rd and visiting Robber's Cave.

Day 2 took us to the University of Nebraska Lincoln's Food Science and Entomology departments. After lunch the Larsen Tractor Museum and Test Lab was the next stop. Of course, we couldn't miss out on visiting the UNL Dairy Store for some ice cream!

Visiting the Nebraska Innovation Campus on Day 3 was a very interesting stop. We then traveled to Broken Arrow, Nebraska to visit Straight Arrow Bison Ranch.

Day 4 took us to Mount Rushmore National Memorial to learn more about the history behind the faces. Unfortunately, we had a flat tire and missed out on visiting Neiman Enterprises. We were able to visit the first National Monument, Devil's Tower.

Between stop activities!

As we traveled into South Dakota, Day 5, we stopped at the DC Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery in Spearfish, SD. If you watch the Magnolia Network on TV, there is a show called "Building Outside the Lines". We spent a few hours visiting with "Cappie", the host of the show and looking at some of his creations. Leaving Spearfish, we went to Bell Fourche High School where we were able to learn more about their ag program and visit with some of their students. They told us about a place in town we should stop at, the geographical center of the US.

On Day 6 we traveled to North Dakota and learned about wool and sheep at Friesz Family Livestock and visiting Cows and Co Creamery for some delicious gelato!

Learning new technology from 701X was the start of Day 7. We spent the afternoon at North Dakota State University.

Day 8 took us to Ag Week to learn more about the communications side of the ag industry. After that we visited Frolek Farms where we were able to see a variety of vegetables being grown using different methods of cultivation.

Up early and out late!

Visiting the South Dakota State University Dairy Plant on Day 9 gave us some hands on experience in the food science field as well as learning about the making of ice cream. And of course, we had to eat some!

Our final day, Day 10, we started at 605 Sires and had our last tour at Lincoln Premium Poultry before headed back to the airport to head home.

Day 8: Uncle Jesse's Produce by: Ethan

Today we went to a very cool farm in North Dakota. The farmers name is Jesse Frolek. He grows everything from tomatoes to rhubarb to onions. He has over 10 different things he grows in his greenhouses. He also makes pickles, jams, and other canned goods.

First we got out of the vans and he came out and talked to us. We talked about some common things like where we are from and all. Then we talked about ag related things like what varieties of plants we have in Florida. And even that we have a lot of cattle in Florida. Then he told us about his whole operation. He does soybeans, corn, and a few other row crops along side his vegetables.

He toured us around all of his green houses. He had over 8 greenhouses that all had plants in them lined in multiple rows. Some he uses hydroponic growing systems and others are traditional. His best selling plants are tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. In one greenhouse he had a very “cool” design for cooling during the summer and warming during the winter. The design of the greenhouse had water lines running through the ground 4 ft down below the green house.

This was an all around very good stop. From the learning aspect to it just being very cool. Mr. Jesse is a very nice guy as well. I’m glad we got to tour this place on our trip!