Educational Collaboration in Japan

Today was a busy day with our colleagues and friends at the University of Yamanashi. We kicked off the day with a visit from the Dean of the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. Following this meeting we made our way to a large lab area where we met students from the University of Yamanashi. We learned a lot about agriculture in Yamanashi and research projects at the university. Yamanashi is a strong agriculture prefecture including ranking number one in production within Japan for grapes, peaches, and plums. This, also, allowed our students time to share Iowa agriculture and natural resources with students from Japan. 

For lunch we made our way to the campus cafeteria and enjoyed a peaceful lunch outdoors. Next, we ventured to the university farm where the group had the opportunity to operate drones and explore vineyards. We had the opportunity to learn about drone applications and uses within the university setting. This left a little time to explore the most famous shrine in the Yamanashi prefecture before dinner at a Japanese BBQ where we were able to grill our own meat via the grills in the middle of the tables. 

Research and Rain

We had a little bit of rain today as we visited the research area for Aarhus University near Foulum. Due to the rain we started with dairy research where they were measuring methane output from cattle and working to bring the levels down. They were running different feed trials as well. We then learned about the process of protein extraction from grasses and other crops. Following lunch we headed to the fields to learn about different grasses, clover, and crops being grown in Denmark for biomass production. We were, also, able to analyze the equipment used at the research facility.

We returned to campus for another great dinner and headed into town via train to explore the city of Aarhus. Catch up on our busy day with today's video recap linked here!

Getting Rural in Denmark

Today we kicked off our day visiting a dairy milking 500 head of cows. The farmer actually removed robots from his operation in order to expand with future growth potential yet to come. Everyone was impressed with the cleanliness and efficiency of the dairy operation. From the farm we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch before visiting AgroLab which tests chemicals for outside companies and helps them get their products approved for the market. We learned about the process, checked out the equipment used, and looked at some test plots. We also discovered that 85% of the land in Denmark is utilized for agriculture.

We enjoyed a relaxing evening and dinner at Ove and Else Marie's home on the island of Fanoe. Fanoe will be our home base over the next couple days as we enjoy our weekend in Denmark. Check out this YouTube link for a recap of our day!

Rainout Shelters Provide Droughts

Linked below we highlight technology being developed by a group in Australia to assist researchers with plant breeding and developing drought tolerant varieties. While rainout shelters are not a new technology these from Australia have some new features that make them unique. Look over the linked article and take advantage of the discussion points below to guide your conversations.

Rain Out, Research In

Discussion Points

• Explain the purpose of rainout shelters and why they are important.
• What benefits do these new rainout shelters from Australia have over traditional rainout shelters?
• Why is it important to test new varieties in the field and not exclusively in greenhouses?
• These rainout shelters provide an environment for great research and the varieties being developed provide great promise. What challenges still face getting these newly developed varieties to the farmers around the world that need them? How can these challenges be overcome?