Horse Racing has very deep roots in the culture of the world. But, for the United States we can trace are involvement all the way back to 1665. Thats when the first known track was laid out in Long Island. All standard breed horses in America can trace back their lineage to Hamiltonian. As for Delaware, we would get into horse racing in the 1760s and its all history from there. This was a great presentation with a ton of information in it. Mark Davis did a great job giving us a taste of what it would be like to be in the horse business. Also, about what we would need to know if we wanted to get in the horse business. Im sure there is a lot more we would need to know but he gave us a nice foundation to build on. This was are last guest lecture of the semester and it was a great way to finish.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to class to see Dr.Mayonado lecture, but being able to watch it after the fact was a huge help. First off I want to say that I think Bayer is a great company. I really like the work they do and the different types of field education classes they offer to the public. The best part of the presentation for me was being able to here about what it is like working in a company. It was very interesting to learn about how there were 30 industries developing new herbicides and products like that and now over the span of a few years that number has dropped to just 4. Which seems weird because you would think that as technology advances and continues to grow that getting your hands on that type of technology would be easier. But, I guess that with all these flare ups of false allegations that it probably helped a lot of these companies fail and discouraged anyone from trying it. It probably has made it just that more difficult to start up a company that creates pesticides and herbicides by means of paper work and regulations. It is crazy to me that people can make a case out of the little information they have that RoundUp causes cancer. Especially, when all of these other trusted organizations are disagreeing with that. It would be like if a organization in Europe said 1+1=3 but all these other organizations were saying no it definitely equals 2. But the public and the court are saying well they said it equals 3 so it must equal 3. It just doesn’t make sense to me how our judicial system just seems like there are suspending logic on these cases.
This was definitely my favorite trip of them all and between seeing all the animals, the research they were doing throughout the farm, getting to hear about everything they do on the farm, oh and I can’t forget about that ice cream. I got a pint of cinnamon crunch ice cream and it was just about the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Maybe seeing all the behind the scenes of the milking process and the cows themselves made it better. But, I’ve had the tour of Hopkins Dairy farm and there ice cream didn’t get any better so I’ll have to take another trip up to Newark and get some more to experiment. My favorite thing about this field trip was the feeding process they had for the cows. It just amazed me and I almost didn’t believe him till 3 or 4 cows came up and scanned their necklace and started eating. I also thought it was cool that they were experimenting with rice patties on campus I never thought that we would be in the right climate for that but it definitely makes sense. Another, bonus was getting to see all the different bee hives scattered around the farm.
This guest lecture was very interesting and informal. I’m glad we can have someone like Dan Severson who gets to explain to us about livestock. He is very knowledgeable about not only livestock but about the rest of the agricultural industry. My favorite part of his presentation was a brief part but it’s when he talked about the rising of bee keeping. I’ve only scraped the surfaces about beekeeping and hardly know anything at all. It is a topic that has always intrigued me, it especially does now with the drastically decreasing bee population throughout the world. Knowing that it is a increasing industry it makes me really happy to hear that it shows that people are starting to get the picture that bees are important to this world. Another thing which might make me sound a little dumb is that with show animals I always thought that they were judged on appearance not by the cut of beef or pork. But, it definitely makes sense that they are judged that way and it will change the way I view show animals now when I head up the the Farm show in Harrisburg.
For the Product review I picked All-Natural Biodegradable Kitty Litter. I don’t go to the grocery store to much unless I need things for a specific recipe I am making (which is not an efficient way to go to the store). This product is made by the company The Good Earth on the front of this Litter it says Non-Gmo. It is made of 100% American grown grass which is pretty cool I guess. I don’t think it would make a difference to the cat really if the grass was genetically modified or not. I mean I know my cat wouldn’t care for my cat we use a newspaper thing call yesterdays news its made out of newspaper pellets and its easy to clean and holds smell in pretty well. It also breaks down in water very easily.
Hearing Tracy Wootten and Valann Budischak talk was so cool. I didn’t know that there was such a job as a master gardener. But, now that I know it is a job and it sounds like an amazing job. I love that Tracy said that she calls herself a plant detective that is such a awesome title. It is a title that definitely makes sense because sometimes in my garden I feel like a detective when I’m trying to figure out what is wrong with my plants. I also always wondered about why states don’t try to make all the side areas more dense with flowers and high grass. So I am super happy to hear and see that there are programs in place to make the highways better for the environment and look better overall. I never realized that state parks would need a land manager but it definitely makes sense to have one now that I think about it.
This Field trip was very fun and I learned a lot about how precision ag is changing the way farmers do things. Hoober’s from the sound of it is where I would buy all my farming equipment. They are helpful and more important than that they are knowledgeable. Driving the tractors was very cool. The closest thing I’ve driven to a tractor was a bulldozer with a small backhoe on the back. The tractor was a lot smoother. Unfortunately, the auto steering didn’t work while I was in there but it started to right at the end so I got a little look at what was going on. It defiantly is cool how it just completely takes over and immediately starts to mark where you have been and I’m sure it would track everything you’ve harvested or sprayed. Which like professor Issac said would be very beneficial in a court case. This field trip definitely showed off this side of the industry very well and taught me a lot.
Irragation is of the utmost importance and is something that seems like will always need improvements on how we can use water effectivly and efficiently. When James talked about the pivot irrigation I was surprised to learn about how inconsistent even the most consistent one was. But, as I thought about it makes sense. I wonder if there are any better Ideas for irrigation in the works or being tested out somewhere? The technology he talked about was pretty amazing to. I know Professor Issacs touched on this before about being able to control a whole farms irrigation system from your smart phone. It’s just crazy to think about controlling such an big and important machine from your hand held device. The zone control with the different soil types so the irrigation system knows how much water each zone needs is a very fascinating as well and it seems very practical to help plants get all the water they need for a nice full harvest.
I think Mark is very brave to admit his mistakes and be able to embrace them and come forward to such a large crowd. I think it was almost better for him to start out the way he did because it gave him a better understanding of why GMOs were good and it also showed him why people think they are bad. So now he can help inform those people and people around the world the right way and explain it to them how he learned about it and why he changed. He makes his case by saying when he thought about GMOs he just thought about evil scientists working in a lab making up these food concoctions. He didn’t trust them because they were marketed by big corporations and had really not looked into it more than that. But, finally when he did look more into it and got more of an academic understanding of what GMOs really do and their health benefits his Anti-GMO views started to fall apart. Another point he talks about is how he thought they would need more chemicals to take care of these GMO crops when really it would take less chemicals because the plants were meant to deal with it better. He hits beautifully on how GMOs genetics aren’t really as unnatural as everyone thinks and how this type of genome mix happens in nature and its called a gene flow. Mark Lynas states his case well and does a great job at saying why he was wrong and exactly why he was by using facts.
Fifer Orchards was a great field trip it was cool getting to ride around in the bus and get to see all the fields. Seeing the pivot irrigation up close was amazing. I’ve never realized just how big they really are. I also never thought about the tires going flat and the plastic tires are a wonderful idea and definitely makes farmers jobs a lot less stressful.
I wish would have been able to see the packing system working I can only imagine how efficent this machine is and he said that its really out of date but it still looks in great condition. Before we got to the packing system we walked through their freezer which was just packed with all their different produce. The diversity of fifers crops is really amazing they have from apples all the way to kale. I also really liked their store where I got a gallon of apple cider and donuts and they were both so good. That alone was worth the little drive.
Hearing Ed Kee come and Lecture again was a great opportunity for learning. He knows so much and I found it kinda funny that he brought bacon and gave it someone. But, it did drive a major point across Iowas pork industry travels all around. I always just assumed that down in the southern areas of the country is where the pigs would be. Ed Kee set it straight pork comes from Iowa. I also never assumed that Iowa was as impactful as it was in the agricultural industry. But, It is in almost the perfect area and they sure are taking full advantage of it as they grow 13% of the United States corn all by themselves. I also would have never thought that 9/11 would have really made a difference in the agricultural field at all. But, I think that this change was a good one as it helped kinda buffer fossil fuels to not be 100% in all fuels.
Mr. Kee’s presentation was very informal and taught me a lot of new things. While driving around Delaware I never really take into account truly how many farms there are. So, when Mr. Kee had in his presentation that 41% of Delaware is farmland I was little skeptical. But, now while I’m driving around I really notice just how many farms I pass between fields and poultry farms its kind of eye opening. I am very intrigued by Delaware’s Young Farmer Program it sounded like it could be very intersting and I would like to learn more about it. One thing that all of our guest speakers have hit on is just how much technology has changed the game for farmers. Like, Georgies chicken farm the houses temperature were kept in check by the system she installed. Ed Kee showed us some other examples like irrigation systems for fields and how farmers can control it all right there on their phones. I can’t wait to learn more from Ed Kee in his next presentation.
This guest lecture put a fire under me when I left class I was in a very good mood and felt like I could do anything. I went to work right after class and immediately started to do so I’ve been getting more done then I ever have been. I’ve been looking at working as a way to brand myself better so that way when a future employer calls my current employer I will get nothing but positive comments. I will soon also be making a linkedin and a personal branding instagram. I’ve been wanting to do a instagram account like this where I share my gardening achievements and the different stuff Im trying out in my garden. I also had no clue what linkedin was so I’m glad Mrs.Michele gave us a brief overview of that it truly sounds like that will be very helpful in finding jobs in the field I want. I am not on twitter at all but I will also look more into that for the future. This whole presentations was amazing thank you so much Mrs.Michele
It is really cool learning about the of poultry farming and also present day poultry farming from someone who is so passionate about what she does. One thing that stood out to me was how it was all started accidentally. One woman started poultry farming in Delaware and now we live in a time where chickens out number Delaware residents 200 to 1. It’s crazy to think that in just the Delmarva area 605 million birds are produced and it definitely won’t be slowing down anytime soon as the worlds population just keeps rising. Chicken won’t get us all the food we need but as Mrs.Cartanza showed us chickens are very efficient in there feed to body mass conversion the only thing more efficient is a fish. Being on Mrs.Cartanza’s farm and then hearing her speak to our class I could really tell she is very passionate about what she does. She is also on a mission to stomp out any false data out there and she has definitely helped me see that farming is not as bad as the media portrays it.
Going to the Poultry Farm was truly eye opening experience for me. Personally when I think of poultry farming I just thought of farming chickens when really there is much more than that, especially when it comes to organic chicken farming. I would have never thought about the how they couldn’t use rodenticides or insecticides on these farms because honestly I didn’t think that it would effect the chicken that much. Something that really amazed me was when Mrs.Cartanza was talking about how when she opens the doors for the chickens to go outside and not a lot of them do. But, that makes me happy to think that the chickens are just as or more happy in the chicken houses. Another thing I found very interesting was the size comparison from chickens in 1957 to chickens today and it’s crazy to think that genetics and a few other improvements did all that. But, those are the types of animal improvements we need to make to be able to feed are ever growing population. I just want to say thank you to Mrs.Cartanza for a very informal trip.