Josh Grunnet – The key is to get the soybeans into the market when the market our soybeans. We try to get the soybeans all the way to the Gulf and to New Orleans where it gets loaded onto vessels heading to overseas markets. Gianna – This highway runs all the way down to the Mississippi River and that’s where we’re headed. Gianna - I gave Jacob a walkie talkie and told him to not lose sight of those soybeans. Jacob come in! Where are you? Jacob - I found out that the soybeans are in these big barges just up ahead. There’s no way they can get past that dam. Looks like it’s the end of the line for those soybeans. Gianna - I don’t know. I think something that big is going to have a destination much further away. Jacob – We need some answers. Jacob – So how is this necessary and how does it relate to soybeans? Sam Mathiowetz – Each one of those barges hold fifteen to sixteen hundred tons, ya know, the equivalent of about fifty-five to sixty semi’s. Gianna – This seems way more complicated than transporting by trucks? Sam Mathiowetz – Actually, it’s not. Ya know, a can only go wherever the road is, right? Gianna – True. Sam Mathiowetz – I mean, makes sense? They go wherever the river is, it’s just, once again, we go fifty-eight, roughly, fifty-eight semi’s fit in each barge. Gianna – So that’s why it’s more efficient? Sam Mathiowetz – That is how it’s more efficient. Sam Mathiowetz – Watch as the barge does come in right now. Remember how I said the boat pushes it in? And this is actually how it works. They’re going to come right in and they’re going to be parallel up against this wall and then we’re going to bring ‘em in. Gianna – That seems really big. How does it fit through here?
Gianna – How would a girl like me get involved with a job you have? Knuteson – Surprisingly, there’s a lot of job out there in agriculture in the future and as the future comes there’s actually going to be more opportunities. And by having these collaborative efforts such as the NSSI, the researchers are able to work with growers and they find out really, on farm situations, what some of the needs are and where the research focuses can be, and what kind of research dollars they should get to do that. Jacob – It almost seems like a symbiotic relationship again. People working together? Deana Knuteson – It’s very important to work together. Not only the growers and the researchers but researchers across various departments because that’s how we make the best research advances and are able to implement them on the farm in the most efficient manners. Gianna – How many farmers are actually being sustainable? Deana Knuteson – Growers have to be to be in business today, it’s what the markets are requiring. But a lot of them are being more innovative and actually looking at some of the non-ag landscapes and the ecological restoration efforts they do on those areas. (electronic music) Jacob – This isn’t a farm. What’s this? Deana Knuteson – Part of being sustainable is to take your non –agriculture lands and work with those too. And this is an example of that on this farm, where they have actually put pines and oaks and pollinator species around to help manage the landscape as a whole and work with the insects and native species and nesting birds that would need these kinds of areas. And this is really important for farmland and for native bees and butterflies and insects that need these kinds of plants to survive. Gianna – We’ve seen a lot of sustainable practices, but this takes the cake. Deana Knuteson – This is getting to be more and more common in farmland and in sustainability and it’s something that I think is going to expand even more in the future. But growers want to do this type of work to merge agriculture and conservation together. Jacob – It seems that the soybean industry gets more and more sustainable over time. Is that true?