The Southwest Minnesota State University Agriculture Club took their annual trip on Jan. 17-20. Their journey took them from Marshall to Chicago, Ill., with a few stops in between.  They took off at 4:30 a.m. on the 17th and traveled to Ankeny, Iowa for their first stop at the John Deere plant where they manufacture the self-propelled sprayers. From there they traveled to Chicago. They then took in a tour of the Chicago Board of Trade and were able to see the trade floor from a viewing window.

The Chicago Board of Trade tour was the best part of the trip, according to SMSU Ag Club president Jeremy Labat.

“It was interesting learning what some of the hand signals meant for the traders and the trading pits,” says Labat.

After that tour they were able to take in a few sites, including the SkyDeck at Willis Tower and the Bean at Millennium Park. The next day they traveled into Wisconsin to tour one of the Milksource dairies. They got a tour of a barn that was a quarter mile long. Included in the tour was the nursery, where they saw new born calves that were taking their first steps and also two milking carousels that held 80 cows on each one. After that they traveled to Wausau, Wis. for a fun night of tubing and ended the weekend with a tour at the Leinenkugel’s Brewing Company in Chippewa Falls, Wis.

If you are interested in joining the SMSU Ag Club and participating in activities such as this, contact Jeremy Labat at [email protected].