US Senator Joni Ernst stopped in Jefferson Tuesday.

She toured the Syngenta Seed plant on highways 4 and 30. Site Manager Chad Wuebker led the tour and then the Senator took questions from employees during a follow up town hall meeting. Ernst learned how Syngenta takes raw soybean seed and treats it before they deliver it to producers. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio what the most impressive part of the tour was for her.

“The thoughtful manner where they receive the seed coming in from the growers and then how it is sorted and how it is tested. It’s very impressive. It’s so thorough. I never would’ve imagined it goes through a process like this until I’ve actually seen it.”

Ernst then fielded questions from Syngenta employees including losing natural habitat, decrease funding in the United States Department of Agriculture, the farm bill and growing concerns over Social Security.

The stopped in Jefferson was part of Ernst’s 99-county tour. Other places she visited Tuesday include Templeton Rye in Templeton and Boone Valley Brewery in Boone.