The agricultural community is pretty diverse in Washington County. I have met a variety of impressive producers from many different backgrounds. For example, I attended a pasture walk hosted by Ariel from Clear Spring Creamery, who is a first generation female farmer. In attendance were many farmers who come from generational farms. Everyone at the pasture walk was so open in giving each other suggestions and sharing their own experiences. Cultural understanding models how diverse experiences allow for the innovation of a wide range of practices and ideas.
Last week started like many of our weeks do, building the temporary fencing for the strip grazing of the sheep and cattle. Nina and I also spent time each day moving and checking on the sheep and cattle here at WMREC. This was a forage sampling week, so on Thursday we collected our forage yield and quality samples from the annual and perennial pastures. The week also consisted of some preparation for the Washington County Fair (which is the next week)- setting up an informational area about agriculture for the kids and getting a few things ready for the sale. During the rest of the week, I spent a lot of time within the dairy industry. On Tuesday, we traveled with Jeff to a few different dairy farms in the area, along with a professor in public health at the University of Maryland. They are collecting data to study the presence of Avian Influenza on the farms. We met with the farmers at each facility, discussing where the best place to place air sensors and cat collar cameras for data collection.
On Thursday, I had the opportunity to travel to South Mountain Creamery’s very impressive farm to set up a total of five insect traps around the farm for research that Amanda is assisting with. We also received a tour of their dairy system. It was amazing to see their very high-tech dairy barn, which consisted of eight robot milking machines, two robot feeders, and two robot manure pushers. The machinery and set up on the farm made it incredibly self-proficient. Lastly, we ended our week at CMREC, meeting with a few specialists there, grabbing some equipment, and taking a tour of their horse and dairy facility. It was a great week spent exploring new and advanced research practices and machinery.
This is one of two robot manure pushers at South Mountain Creamery. The manure is pushed and eventually moved to a pit. It can eventually be used for fertilizer.
This is one of eight robot milkers that the dairy cattle freely enter in multiple times a day. The machine also gives the farm so much information on milk collection from each cow.
This is one of two robot feeders that automatically feeds and pushes old feed infront of the cows multiple times a day.
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