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Monday’s Top 3: Green, Renewable Energy and Food

It might be the trappings of seeing a new country for the first time, the smell of fresh air after being cramped on an overseas flight or it might be that I’m not used to seeing green grass living in Nebraska, but the first thing that stood out to me once we left Frankfurt was that everything was green.  The color splashed off the rolling hills and dotted valleys of farming communities.  I even heard some of the farmers on the trip mentioned that the color of everything stood out to them: crops, grasslands, trees, ect.

This week, I’m in France and Germany with our great friends from CLAAS. They offered me the chance to visit their production facilities in Europe and after approval from the boss, I jumped at the chance.  As part of our coverage, I’ll be posting daily blogs and the days “Top 3” –  what were the top three things that stood out to me in addition to any news coverage.

I’ve already mentioned how green it is.  Secondly, I noticed that there are lots of renewable energy sources.  It’s very common to see solar panels on the roofs of homes or machine sheds and wind turbines.  They scatter the rolling hills of Northwest Germany for miles.  Germany’s top five commodities are milk, sugar, wheat potatoes and barely.  Nearly 1 million people are involved in the German ag industry.

Lastly – #3, the obvious.  The food is fantastic. For lunch, I head schnitzel and French fries.  A German spin on pork cutlet.  For dinner, I had a Pilsner with goulash.  It was a mix between spaghetti and sloppy joe with a hit of sweetness.

Those are Monday’s Top 3.  Tomorrow, we’re touring production plants and talking with growers.