Craig and Brenda VanRyswyk of Jasper County recently attended an ag tour trip to Erie, Pennsylvania. The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation membership trip was held June 18-22. Representatives from many Iowa counties traveled to Erie, Pennsylvania to learn about the rich agricultural area nestled right up against Lake Erie of the Great Lakes. 

Lake Erie is the second smallest and the shallowest of the Great Lakes. It is 254 miles long and approximately 50 miles wide at the center and 210 feet deep at the deepest point. It was essential to the development of North America and served as a shipping lane...