We made it to the Midwest! Today was our first full day of tours and I have to admit I’m wiped out. We started the day out going to the Court House and some of us got a really cool inside tour of the Circuit Court room. A few students even had their picture taken with a black robe on in the judges chair! Next we walked to the Arch for our trip up the Arch to it’s 630ft top. That was an experience that I will never forget. It is truly amazing how the engineers built that big beautiful “Gateway to the West”. Also included was a Riverboat tour. The boat tour was nice to learn more about the history also. Took some fancy photos off the boat as well!
Our final tour was to Monsanto Research Center. This was the first of many Ag related tours we have yet to encounter on this trip and I have to say it was a great start! I loved our tour guide, he was very informational and I learned a lot. He was what made the tour fun and that’s always a plus!
I didn’t know much about Monsanto before this trip and now after learning so much I feel like I’m an expert. Maybe not. But Monsanto’s research center has devoted their time to gene sequence of different agriculture crops. They basically find the best genes for their seeds and produce the best plants possible. They study the specific proteins made from different sequences of genes in the seed, allowing them to eliminate the guessing game of waiting for a crop to fully develop and record its physical qualities. Monsanto also makes their own processing machines, such as their seed chippers, which their engineers designed. We had the chance to watch the seed chippers work and then we took home free souvenirs of chipped seeds. YAY! Free stuff!
Monsanto, sadly, has a bad reputation for creating harsh chemicals that farmer put on their crops to deal with insects or weeds. I learned today that these are not chemicals, but instead throughly studied proteins from the gene sequencing that has effects on bugs. These GMO plants (genetically modified) are not harmful to all species, only to the specific protein that id directed towards the problem at hand. Monsanto’s goal is to create products to allow farmers to maintain sustainable agricultural. As a quote from today’s guide, “we are building the parents for the next generation”. Great day today, tomorrow is full of more fun!
Until we meet again.
