By Cathryn Ayers, Angela Hamann, and Katherine McLachlan
The morning was off to an early 6:45 am start as we boarded our bus which we now refer to as the Bruce-mobile (named after our driver). It was about a two and a half hour drive to Modesto, CA where we visited the E&J Gallo Winery Inc. This is the largest winery in the world where we witnessed wine grape production in the vineyard, manufacturing, and management of the entire supply chain. Dan Martins, the plant manager and Chris Savage, senior director of global environmental affairs gave us a thorough tour of the winery so that we could learn about each stage of the operation. After viewing the large winery facilities we headed to view some of the Gallo vineyards where they grow all of their grape varieties. Alan Reynolds, the vineyard manager, showed us many different kinds of grapes trellises and grape harvesting machines. After a tour of the vast fields they hosted us to a very nice lunch in a small picnic area on the farm. They cooked a traditional Mexi-Californian BBQ on an outdoor patio overlooking the vineyards, and we got our first taste of some locally-made wine.
After an awesome lunch we got back on the Bruce-mobile and headed north to a dairy farm just north of Modesto CA. When we arrived at Fiscalini Farms, dairyman John Fiscalini met us by their cheese house to start the tour. He explained to the students the policies and regulations that he has encountered as a dairy farmer in California and how his farm has had difficulties with the local clean air board and water board to meet the unfair standards that they have set. While explaining this, the students got a tour of their 1400 cow dairy farm, including the freestanding barns, milk parlor, and methane digester. At the end of the tour we ended up at the cheese house where he talked about the four cheeses that the farm produces, where they were sold, and the multiple awards that the cheese has won in the last ten years since the cheese component started operating, including “Best Cheddar in the World” at the 2007 World Cheese Awards in London.
Upon the conclusion of the dairy tour we took the short drive into Modesto where we were hosted at the Gallo family-owned restaurant called Galletto’s Ristorante. There we enjoyed a lovely dinner of salad, penne al pollo, and gelato. After dinner we drove an hour and a half back to San Francisco.
Tomorrow we check out of the hotel at 11am. Many of us have plans to get in a little last minute sightseeing and possibly shopping. We have really enjoyed being able to see the city and more importantly to experience many facets of agriculture in California. Overall it was a great experience to be a part of. We have truly learned about the differences between California Ag Policy and agriculture compared to Illinois Ag Policy and the corn and soybean fields that we call home.
Stay tuned for more photos from the trip HERE.