Mark Davis, the executive director of the Delaware Horse Racing Commission , came into class to talk about…you guessed it: the horse racing industry.  Being from New Jersey and pretty much unfamiliar with horse racing pretty much everything he talked about was new to me.  He talked about the general history of horse racing from the 12th century all the way up to modern day. An interesting fact is that in 1989, horse racing was the second most attended sport after baseball in the U.S. One of the most important pieces of legislature to the racing industry in Delaware is the Delaware Horse Racing Redevelopment Act which sought to revitalize the industry. Horse racing in Delaware is a major part of the state economy accounting for at least 4,200 jobs and contributing $182 million as of 2014. Now with an industry that large it is also heavy regulated for the safety and well-being of the horses. The horses can only race a certain amount of times a year and some owners have their own private veterinarians. Horse racing is also very profitable for owners and all involved so it looks like the horse industry will be one that will continue to last for a very long time.

This guest lecture about irrigation was a fascinating one just due to all of the advances that have been made in this field practically as old as farming itself. Water is essential to all life and the conservation and proper efficient use of it is what irrigation is all about. We learned about the most common kind irrigation were the traveling gun, sub-surface drip, surface & shallow sub-surface drip, and the most common: center pivot. Center pivot is nice because you can easily control the distribution of the water although a bit expensive. One of the most recent advances in irrigation technology is zone control which is basically turning the water on and off as the center pivot pipe goes around the field to prevent too much water from being sprayed. With water being a scarce commodity in certain parts of the world it is important that we learn to manage our water supply carefully and use it intelligently and proper irrigation is vital to that goal. However,  I think the most important lesson I learned from this lecture is: don’t park your car in the wheel track.

A guest lecture by David Mayonado, who was a technology development rep from Monsanto.  He briefly talked about some of the advancements in agriculture throughout history and that land grant universities are a big part of the innovation in the ag industry. On such universities, various research experiments can be carried out. However, a lot of technological advances also come from the private sector and corporations like Monsanto. He discussed what he does and the pros and cons of working in his industry, but he enjoys it because it is an exciting field and he gets to work with a variety of people.  David talked about some of the recent projects and advancements that his company was working on like applications for RNAi technology and gene silencing. He also talked about the regulations and safety measures that have to be met by companies before these technologies can be used widespread. Also, that some of these advances come with their fair share of controversy, a good example would be the GMO debate. These advances in the agriculture field are sure to be the way of the future in dealing with our increasing demand for greater crop output in the decades to come.

Our guest lecture on the green industry by Tracy Wootten and Valann Budischak was a very informative one. We learned a variety of things and one thing in particular that I hadn’t know was that the grower sales alone was a $13.8 billion industry.  We learned that just over half of people get their lawn and garden supplies from a garden center. The thing I found most interesting is all of the different jobs that a landscaper does. I had thought that they just cut grass and general yard maintenance, but they have some other jobs that one would not expect like: lighting, tree health, and irrigation management. One important thing that the green industry tries to tackle is invasive species. They routinely look for and remove the harmful plants from our local ecosystems. The last thing they talked about was the Delaware Livable Lawns program that certifies homeowners & lawn care companies in using the best environmentally safe practices for application of fertilizer. The green industry could definitely be a career path for someone who cares about the environment.

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement signed in February with Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, U.S., Vietnam, Chile, Brunei, Singapore, and New Zealand. According to the U.S. government’s website, the major benefits of the TPP for us include elimination of thousands of taxes on Made in America exports, helps small businesses benefit from global trade, promote internet purchases and preserve an “Open Internet”. It aims to promote a single market and to increases regulation on agricultural products. Critics accuse the TPP of secretive negotiations and that it favors large, multinational corporations. Critics also say that TPP will compromise the safety of our food by opening up many more imports with already a lack of funds. All in all the benefits and concerns seem to overlap with what is true and not true. Its difficult  for an average person to get the facts and not a tilted view.

For our class’s final field trip , we went to none other than our university’s own research farm that consists of multiple farms. Due to my major I had been to the farm before. We started at the dairy farm and learned about some of the research being conducted with dairy cows at the university. Then we traveled to the horse stables where I learned that horses could stop labor and then proceed to run away from any danger. After that ,we walked over to the sheep and talked about the lambs there. Among other things, we learned about manure/ composting and how the farm takes care of it and other wastes. Having been to the research farm and various parts of it before I thought that I knew pretty much everything that was on the farm, but I was surprised to learn that there was an apiary (beehives) on the farm. I guess it just goes to show that even if you think you know everything you can still learn something new every day.

Fifer’s is a local produce farm in Delaware. It is a family owned and run operation spanning multiple generations. We got an inside look at their apple portion of their production. Fifer’s uses camera imaging to sort their apples and then hand packages them. They then ship them to local schools and even to some major stores that want locally grown food like Walmart. We learned that Fifer’s has a Community Supported Agriculture program in which they box up a bunch of local grown produce and ship it all over the state. It was really interesting learning that apple trees are no longer the tall ones from when I went apple picking as a child, they resemble bushes more in my opinion. Fifer’s also has a farmer’s market right on site that anyone can shop at and I gladly took advantage of that to buy some apple cider and cider donuts. Fifer’s was one of my favorite field trips.

Our first field trip as a class was to an organic chicken farm. I had never been to a chicken production farm before but had seen some on tv so I was interested in seeing one in real life. Ms. Cartanza’s poultry farm consists of multiple houses in which she grows approximately 160 thousand chickens at a time. As we were still on the bus we put on sterile shoe covers and jumpsuits to prevent us from bringing any diseases into the chickens’ living area. We learned that modern technology allowed Ms. Cartanza to operate her farm on her own with some help from a few hired staff or her children.

Being an organic farm the chickens had some things that non-organic ones would not have. The organic chickens have bully boxes, ramps, and other enhancements to entertain themselves. They are allowed outside and have shade while out there. Some of the things they share with their non-organic counterparts are a constant wind tunnel of air creating a nice breeze and keeping the chickens cool. They also get unlimited 24/7 food and water.

I learned a lot from going to Ms. Cartanza’s farm and I hope to go on to teach others the things I discovered on this field trip.

James Atkins guest lectured our class on irrigation systems and the different types of systems. He also explained the precision Ag side of irrigation systems that run on GPS. I found it interesting how center pivot irrigation systems can compensate the flow of water when it reaches a certain area in a field. He also showed how the use of drones can show what parts of a field receives too much or too little water and how that data can be transferred to the watering system to fix the water regulation. I found the presentation interesting and I learned a lot about how technology can be used to help save water and money for farmers.