On September 11th, 2019 Mrs. Michele Walfred lectured our Understanding Today’s Agriculture class on our social media presences and how we can use them to our benefit. She explained how we can have a more professional cover, simply by watching what we post on our pages. She showed us what a clean page looks like and why it appeals to businessmen and women. Our page should exhibit our school, interest, and hobbies. We should refrain from posting inappropriate photos. Mrs. Walfred also explained why topics such as religion and political beliefs can give our social media a bad image. Our presence on social media is extremely important and often overlooked by the members in today’s society.
Ecodrum at Cartanza’s organic chicken farm
Our trip to the organic Coleman chicken farm introduced me to a lot of technology new to me but what interested me the most was the new in-vessel composting system implemented at the farm named the ecodrum. The Ecodrum was a large black corrosion-free polyethylene cylinder that sat upon long rollers that would periodically rotate the composting vessel. At Georgie’s farm the Ecodrum was used to compost chicken mortality which was added along with pine shavings into the machine, after that the entire process is managed by an automated control system. This new innovation has not only cut back on the manpower required to compost dead chickens but it has done it in a way that reduces odor to a minimum. This technology is being widely implemented on poultry farms in Arizona but the unit at the Cartanza farm that we saw was the only one in Delaware.
Cartanza’s Organic Poultry Opperation
Although I have been involved in the Agriculture Industry all my life, I’ve never had the opportunity to see the poultry industry and the amount of work it takes to manage a chicken farm. Knowing very little about the industry, I was personally amazed by Georgie and how she must pay attention to fine detail to have the best production possible. I also didn’t realize how sensitive chickens are to temperature. With an increase in technology, Georgie can give the chickens the most ideal environment for growth depending upon their age. I also really enjoyed seeing the new technology for manure and waste at her farm. The new technology composts the dead birds and manure more efficiently than if it were placed in bunks. This field trip was by far one of the most educational and eye opening experience I have ever had.
Ed Kee Guest Lecture – Sean Michael
Today, UD alum (and former Delaware Agriculture Secretary) Ed Kee taught us about the “Foodshed” of the Delaware area. One very surprising fact I learned was that 76% of Delaware’s land is preserved open space, which is way more than my home state of Pennsylvania. Our area, in relation to agriculture, is super important, because a third of the US population lives within 8 hours of the area, with NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia nearby. The most shocking statistic I learned was that 60% of farm families have other significant incomes, like having someone in the family work in town as a teacher or mailman. Kee’s lecture taught me about the mega trends that we, the future of agriculture, will face soon, such as climate change, shifts in economic and trade flows, and rapid urbanization. Climate change is obviously a big deal, and the shifts in economics and trade will just over complicate taking care of this massive problem. Lastly, rapid urbanization means that we will have to feed more people with less space, so the challenge of vertical farming will be dealt with.
Ms. Michele Guest Lecture – Sean Michael
On Wednesday, September 11, the class learned about the importance of having a professional social media account. She really stressed not posting obnoxious party pictures of yourself, for businesses do not want someone who builds themselves like that. One thing that Ms. Michele pointed out that stuck with me was having a consistent headshot (as your profile picture) across all your social media platforms. As well as a headshot, we were told that we should have a descriptive bio, so professional peers or just people who want to be informed can know who you are. I’ll probably have trouble with the whole headshot and long bio things, because my own social media account has 1 post and my profile picture is not myself. Apparently, Twitter is a very fast rising platform in the Agricultural industry, so having young people who know how to use it and communicate misconceptions or truths well is essential. Multiple times throughout the lecture, we were told that everything we post is around forever, so being careful is recommended.
Understanding Social Media
September 11th, 2019 Mrs. Michelle talked to the class about her job in communications. Mrs. Michelle works with top social media sites such as; twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. She helps people understand how to create an appropriate profile account, that can later be reflected on by mentors, bosses, or specific important people. When it comes to creating a profile based on yourself, you should always consider the future. Who is going to see what you post? Will they think bad of me if I post this? Never post something you wouldn’t want certain people to see. Everyone typically does a background check when hiring, meeting, or searching for new people. I learned to be more cautious about what is said and done on social media. Your job could be at risk if you decide to be incautious.
Guest Lecture Ms. Georgie
On Monday, September 9th Ms. Georgie Cartanza stopped by to give a guest lecture. She mostly spent time talking about the ways that poultry farming has changed over the years as well as how the perception the general public has on poultry farming differs from the reality of what is going on on farms. She showed us an image of the size of chickens from decades ago compared to chickens from the current day. She claimed how the media portrays these drastic changes as the effects of pumping the chickens full of steroids and hormones when in reality these changes have come from decades of improvements in genetics and nutrition. The economic effects were also touched on. She claimed that for each Poultry industry job created 7 more jobs in the community are also created. On top of that, she talked about how different regulatory groups place different regulations and requirements on poultry farms that can make it much more expensive and economically challenging to run a poultry farm.
Guest Speaker 1: Georgie Cartanza
On Monday, September 8th, Georgie Cortanza came to our class to give a guest lecture. The Saturday before, our class had visited her poultry farm to learn a bit more about the organic poultry industry. She came to our class to give a more in depth lecture about the organic poultry industry. She went over the history of the poultry industry. In 1862 the Morrell Act was formed to establish land grant colleges. In the 1850s railroads were built in Delmarva to transport crops and animals around the northern east coast, and in 1916, the Dupont highway was built to make it even easier to transport goods.
In Delmarva, there are 3 states, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, made up of 3 counties in Delaware, 8 in Maryland, and 1 in Virginia. There are 9,000,000,000 chickens produced in the US each year, and 825,000,000 of those are produced in Delmarva. That’s a lot of chicken. Georgie also talked about how many processing plants there are in Delmarva and how Perdue was the first family to ever brand their chicken. Now all we see in grocery stores is branded chicken. Georgie emphasized that when you have opinions, you should always look deeper into why you have those opinions and you should keep an open mind to other opinions.
Guest Lecture By Ms. Georgie Cartanza
Ms. Georgie Cartanza who is an organic chicken farmer came and shed some light on many different aspects of chicken farming. During this lecture I learned a lot of things that I had not previously known before, for example that Delmarva produces 9.6% of the nations poultry production and grows 605 million birds a year. Now this really surprised me because in comparison to the whole country the Delmarva area is not very big but still has a huge impact on the nations poultry industry. Another fact that I found interesting was that for every 1 job in the poultry industry it creates 7 jobs in the community. During this lecture Ms. Georgie talked a lot about technology and how that has become such a crucial aspect of chicken farming today. She explained how she can control the entire chicken coop that she has on her farm just from one electrical box and she is able to control all the heat, cooling and ventilation as well as many other things all from one this one box. Ms. Georgie also explained how chickens themselves have changed over the years due to the breeding of the birds, in 1957 it would take 56 days to grow an almost two pound bird but today a nine pound bird is able to be grown in 56 days. Overall I really enjoyed this lecture and I learned a lot of things I had not previously known about the poultry industry in Delmarva.
Guest Lecturer Georgie Cartanza
On Monday, September 9th, Mrs. Cartanza, a producer of organic poultry, came to present her views and knowledge about the poultry industry in class. Her decision to produce organically was a financial one, and some of her main talking points were about dispelling myths about the inorganic poultry industry.
Firstly, she addressed the topic of the substantially larger size of the chickens now compared with those of the past. Many believe that this is due to putting hormones and steroids into them. However, according to Mrs. Cartanza, this is not the case. She assured us that the size of the chickens is due to years of selective breeding, and steroids/hormones are not involved in the process.
She then stressed the point that, people should not vilify the farmer who adopts new technology into his or her farming routine. She pointed out that many times farmers face scorn just for using new technology because people often view it as unnatural or inhumane for the livestock, while oftentimes this is not the case, and the technology actually just helps the farmer while not affection or improving the health of the the livestock.
A Visit to an Organic Poultry Farm
On Saturday, September 7th, I visited a poultry farm that used techniques to produce organic chicken. I was a meat farm that had four large houses, each with openings to let the chickens outside during the day (a prerequisite for a poultry product to be considered ‘organic’). The farm was run by a woman named Georgie Cartanza, who introduced us to her farm and to the poultry world with a presentation that went over the industry’s history and possible directions for it’s future.
At the farm we witnessed the processes that create organic chickens. For instance, they need shade structures in their aforementioned outside area, structures like ramps and bully bins for play, windows for natural light, and they need a diet of non-GMO food.
Doing these things (and more) allow her to sell her product at a higher price because it is organic, however, there are many downsides to producing this kind of product. Because the chickens can be outside, they are more vulnerable to predators, and the feed for the chickens is more expensive. Due to the pros and cons of each method of production, poultry farmers must decide if organic chicken production is worth it and more profitable for them.
Ms. Georgie Cartanza’s Guest Lecture
A few days after we visited Georgie’s farm, she stopped by Carvel Center to give a lecture about the evolution of poultry farming on Delmarva and the challenges that poultry growers face due to negative public perception of the poultry industry.
Every aspect of poultry farming on Delmarva has changed in some way since its inception, from the way the birds are housed, fed and watered to the technology used to monitor temperature, feed and water consumption. The size of the chickens has even changed, with birds having quadrupled in size over the last 70 years.
While these changes have revolutionized the poultry industry, some of them have garnered a negative public perception of the industry. For example, the quadrupling in size of chickens has led some outside the industry to accuse growers of using steroids and growth hormones. In truth, the increased size is due to selective breeding.
Between our visit to Georgie’s farm and her lecture, I feel that I now have a more comprehensive view of the poultry industry and the myriad economic and environmental challenges that growers face, as well as their continual fight against negative public perception.
Visiting an Organic Poultry Farm
My visit to Georgie Cartanza’s organic poultry farm began with a brief presentation of the poultry industry in Delaware. We were then taken on a tour of the farm, including the chicken houses, the composter and the generator shed, which holds one of the most vital pieces of equipment on the entire farm. In the event of a power failure, Georgie explained that she has approximately 20 minutes to restore power using the generator before the chickens begin to suffer adverse effects, up to and including death.
There was a large fenced area between each house which allows the chickens to roam freely during the day once they reach a certain age. They are provided with shade structures to keep them out of the sun. This playtime, along with several other specifications, are required to grow organic poultry.
Inside one of the houses, Georgie discussed how the chickens are fed and watered, as well as the role of tunnel ventilation and temperature control, which is closely monitored through a central control system. She explained that it’s much easier to use this relatively new piece of technology as opposed to manually controlling the temperature in each house.
It was interesting to hear that the chickens are provided with wooden ramps to climb on, and that the lights are turned off for several hours each day to provide them with a period of time to rest.
While I have been exposed to bits and pieces of the poultry industry since I was a kid, I have never been presented with such a comprehensive view of the poultry industry. I greatly enjoyed my time at Georgie’s farm and found her to be very informative.
Guest lecture by Mrs. George Cartanza
It is so glad that Mrs. Georgie Cartanza was invited to came to our class to talk about the evolution of the poultry industry on Delmarva where produces 9.6% of national production. I learned many interesting things about the history of the poultry industry. For every 1 job in the poultry industry it creates 7 jobs in the community. It is quite different about farm between today and past in many aspects. Today poultry farms have automatic pan feeders, nipple drinkers, solid walled houses and so on. Those advanced technology improve the chicken life and save time and cost for the farmers. Chicken nowadays can grow more fast than the past, some people may think that it is because of the hormones and steroids. But that theory is false. There is improvements in genetics, nutrition, housing and technology which cause the achievement that chicken can grow up to 4,202 g in 56 days. It is so important to be mindful of the truth behind the information edited by social media. The information may be the one that they want people to know, not the truth.
Field Trip #1- Ms. Georgie CARTANZA’s Organic Poultry Farm
On September 7, 2019 the entire class took a trip to Dover, Delaware to visit a poultry farm. Though I grew up not too far from this farm, I never new of it’s existence. The farm is owned by a Ms. Georgie Cartanza, a Nuffield Scholar and the current University of DE Poultry Extension Agent. Ms. Cartanza began the trip by introducing herself and sharing a bit of backstory. She told this to us while we sat on a makeshift amphitheater of sorts made up of packages of pine shavings set up on the concrete heavy-use pad in the shadow of a barn used for storage.
After the presentation, we were presented with Personal Protective Equipment- intended more for the chickens safety than our own- in the form of rubber booties, coveralls, and hairnets.
Looking quite stylish and now rendered unable to sneak-up on anyone, we loudly rustled and awkwardly shuffled around the other side of the barn where we saw the EcoDrum and the product of it’s ‘in-vessel composting process’.
Opposite the barn, we could see behind up an identical structure with a manual composting drum.
After marveling at the innovative composting technology we walked over to the actual chicken houses themselves. We got to hear about the technology used to run the chicken houses, namely the Environmental Controller- revolutionary device that allows a single farm to take care of 37, 000 chickens. A prominent part of that technology, displayed broadly on the sides of all the houses, are the large fans to bring the temperature of the chicken house down when necessary.
We also learned about the pasture areas between the houses and the advantages and disadvantages of allowing chickens to roam in the yard. Not yet in use with the young chickens were ramps, hanging water dispensers, bully boxes, ramps, and shade structures. Along with the man-made shade structures were natural shade structures of cattails running down the center.
The culmination of the trip was the experience of holding baby chickens- these particular chicks were a mere two days old, still bearing the pink streaks of the tinted spray vaccine they received before arriving.
The class, joined by Ms. Cartanza, didn’t leave Dover before stopping for lunch at Chik-fil-A- paid for by the Professor. We parted ways with our host after lunch to return to the Newark campus.
The Newark class section would see Ms. Cartanza again, albeit remotely, for Monday’s first class guest lecture.
