After breakfast this morning we took a trip to Utrecht and visited Aurea Imaging, a farming technology company. We got a small tour of the office which was really nice. There were many collaborative spaces and flexible seating providing a positive work environment. What’s interesting about this building is that it’s in a community building that is home to many startups. After the tour we got a little presentation about precision farming. This is a technique in which drones fly over and analyze a crop by size, shape, color, etc. This data is then given to the farmer with feedback about what’s right and wrong with the crop. Another machine can then take this data and use it to create a plant specific treatment. This reduces the amount of pesticides needed to keep the plants healthy because it’s only treating the effect of plants. this also cuts down on waste, because farmers aren’t needing to use extra products that they can save for later. although this technology is expensive upfront, it’s an investment because farming will become cheaper and easier in the long run. after the presentation we got lunch at the office and it was really yummy.

After our adventure at Aurea Imaging, we went to Utrecht, another city in The Netherlands. It was really nice and just celebrated its 900-year anniversary of being a city there. We got to explore a beautiful church and the town in general. We also got gelato. Thank you Dr. Bursic and Frank it was really yummy and it made my day. I’m glad we got to see more of the Netherlands and it’s nice to see all the differences between all the different places we go. Amsterdam is very crowed and older while Utrecht has some newer buildings mixed in and it seems to be much less touristy.

After we returned, we decided to do the tourist thing and bike in the streets of Amsterdam. This was really crazy and scary and I almost got hit, but that’s OK because it all worked out and we ended up at fable frites. The bike ride was only a mile there and back but you have to learn quickly how to use the lanes and how to keep up with traffic or you’re in trouble. Overall, it was a wonderful day and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.