Musings of a farmer’s daughter

Driving through miles and miles of farmland, Sarah is reflecting on how farming has changed in her lifetime. Murray Lougheed (Sarah’s dad) left his family farm as a young adult but his rural roots drove his career in agricultural co-ops and the core values of a family farmer (environmental stewardship; caring for others; and faith in God) helped shaped Sarah and her siblings.

What is interesting in 2014 is the absence of farmhouses and the increase in corporate farming. What are the water implications of large-scale farming in the central valley of California? What does it mean to have huge circular fields in Oregon and Washington that rely on gigantic sprinkler systems? The contrast between the un-watered brown ditches and the irrigated verdant fields is stark.

On our first day of driving this trip, we saw a field of flat, spiky, deep green plants that we couldn’t identify. Up the road, a similar plant was spotted but was taller and seemed vaguely familiar, although the deep green seemed more diluted and more yellow. A third field solved the mystery: these were fields of GMO corn that have been engineered to grow like espaliered trees instead of bushy stalks. Presumably this allows a higher yield of corn per acre, since the plants are more closely packed together.

Last night, we slept by a mighty river that was explored by the famous Lewis & Clark over two hundred years ago. Did you know that only one member of the “Corps of Discovery Expedition” died? And his death was apparently caused by acute appendicitis. However, one of the hunters in the party accidentally shot Lewis in the thigh on the return trip, claiming that he thought Lewis was an elk! Really?!? How does one mistake Captain Lewis for an elk? Elk in the 19th century must have looked a lot different than the elk that we know today!

GEOQUIZ QUESTION: What is the name of the river by which we slept last night?