This past saturday’s field trip to the UD Research Farm was extraordinary! I felt that out of all the great field trips attended this semester, that this one had the most intriguing and ample amount of information. The University of Delaware farm superintendent Scott Hopkins was awesome, as he gave me a great experience and tour of the research farm.

We got to experience the Milking Parlor and learned that the most challenging animal to maintain were the dairy cows. It was awesome for Scott to really give us hands on information about this process and describe the manual labor of cows, on how to milk them, and feed them daily.  These cows were segregated by age from calves, to 1-2 years of age, to the adults.

We also learned the value of sheep, and how they’re a very productive industry that really can help farmer’s income. I learned that sheep meat has become more and more popular as it’s viewed as a classy and great tasting meat. These sheep are also a great source for making wool and using it to make various kinds of clothing.

This tour consisted of not just the dairy operation, but we saw beef, sheep, and equine facilities. This facility was in great condition and is a superb environment for students to get hands on experience with the industry!  We also learned that Scott’s most memorable and favorite research extensive program was the forage research project. Finally at the end of the Tour we got to eat fresh dairy products at the ice cream shop to end what was an astonishing experience that i will never forget.