Destinations

I spent a fair amount of time delivering crop this past week for ourselves and others. As you watch the crop come out do you ever wonder where it all goes?

We are blessed here in Iowa to have the ability to raise, harvest, and deliver a lot of corn and soybeans. If Iowa were it's own country we would be the 4th largest crop grower in the world.

 As we were reminded yesterday listening to the football game our country needs farmers. Just a little over one percent of our population raises food to feed the world. 

 In our country we spend less than 10% of our income on food. And the quantity and quality in our stores are the best in the world. Yet how many folks even know where it comes from and how it gets on the shelves and in the freezers.

We worked for a fellow up north this week that chose to store his soybeans at the local elevator in town. This was my first time delivering to Guernsey. Remember when you are on Hwy 21 heading for I80 and you look to the east. Local elevators store for farmers. When farmers sell, the elevator will then take the grain either to a processing plant for feed or to the Mississippi River for export.

 We delivered soybeans to Fairfield this week. This is a year old facility that built along a railroad. It loads 100 car trains and sends grain wherever it's needed.

 We delivered soybeans to the river terminal in Burlington where they load barges on the Mississippi River up until the river freezes. These soybeans go down to the Gulf of Mexico where they are loaded on cargo ships and then go anywhere in the world. Iowa soybean exports to China have tripled since 2009.

Finally we delivered soybeans to a processing plant in Des Moines this past week. This plant crushes the soybean and sells soybean oil and soybean meal. Well over 2/3 of our soybeans are processed and the bean meal is used for protein in livestock which is grown for us to enjoy meat, eggs, and milk in our diets. A bushel of soybeans has 48# of meal and 11# of oil.

Early in the week the mornings were so wet the soybeans would not get dry enough to combine until mid afternoon. That meant the combines would run well into the night until the early morning dew came in again.

Late in the week we finished up north and it felt good to get back to home base after a couple of weeks where the boys took time to give the equipment a bath. 

 Our team then split up and late in the week we harvested corn and beans both in different locations.

 I delivered corn to Cargill when they were open. Cargill mainly makes high fructose corn syrup for sweeteners. They also have the ability to produce ethanol. They use their by-product for livestock feed. When functioning properly they use around 350 semi loads of corn a day.

 Finally I delivered corn to the bin site. On farm grain storage is increasing every year. Storage on the farm allows the combines to continue to run when the processors and elevators are closed. It can also help farmers postpone selling hoping for better market opportunities.

Emily and Jackson brought lunch yesterday to Pella and helped Kurt run grain cart. Thanks to all the gals who brought meals to the field this week. It's always fun to see family.

We are in my favorite season here in Iowa. It's called Indian Summer and it's the nice weather after a killing frost. We are so blessed. There are many destinations fun to visit however there is not another destination I would rather live. Neighbors that wave at each other. Community that cares. An agriculture based state that loves it's job and is not scared of work. Kids that can handle responsibility and help right along side their parents. God is good.

However much we enjoy living and life, this is not our final destination however. So while we are living here on earth, let's make sure we remember what we are given, including each other, is on loan from God. Many days we run out of strength. He doesn't.

 "You are my strength when I am weak. Jesus, Lamb of God, Worthy is your name."