2024

  Hello from Washington County! We were asked to watch a documentary titled “Delmarva and the Ground for Change.” This documentary did a great job at encompassing the changes that our environment is going through, paired with the developments and changes in agriculture, and how we are likely to be impacted in the future. The most impactful Statistic from the documentary in my opinion was the one that stated:  “In the Northeast, over 1 million acres of agricultural land were paved over, fragmented, or converted to uses that jeopardize agriculture between 2001 and 2016.”  - American Farmland Trust, Farms Under Threat, The State of the States, 2020 This statistic was very impactful to me. My first instinct when hearing this quote is to feel very depressed as we know a strong agricultural industry is important to the survival of a strong society. Nonetheless, the statistics also sparked some hope - even though we have lost so much agricultural land to these issues, we hav...

  🖤Andrea’s Adventures🖤 Start Date: June 29- July 8 This following the campus residency - I was able to help with the UMD Insect Zoo at a Pollinator event in Howard county! It was fun to teach kids about the different insects that belong to the collection- and at the center where the event was held- they had some sample insect collection boxes. I was in charge of the roaches, spiders and handing out stickers to the kids. The most common reaction I got was kids saying “ eww what’s that?” I was able to explain a little bit more about Stella the Rose Haired Tarantula and how old she is. Some kids were fascinated, but still didn’t want to hold her. I got two kids to hold her during the event and one girl said she wants to get a tarantula as a pet- so I’m happy that one less person will fear spiders!  During this week I was able to do some more planning for the insect pinning event. I got the flier for the event ready for distribution as well as working on a mini insect pinning h...

  🖤Andrea’s Adventures🖤 Start Date: June 17-26 I can’t believe we are halfway through the internship! I’ve had a blast so far and I am so grateful to my mentors Mark, Nathan and Kelly for taking me to fun farm visits, crop scouting adventures and helping me improve my Weed plant identification! They make it like a pop quiz, but without the stress, as we get to learn the different characteristics of different weeds across central Maryland. We were able to also participate in a campus residency tour at University of Maryland, College Park for two days. Our time on campus was packed with exploration of the campus as well as getting introduced to the various labs on campus conducting research that had connections to the work we have been doing as interns. Walking around campus in the humid heat was a bit intense, but it was fun crossing campus with all the interns! It was fun being together all in one place since we usually are all together in the zoom setting.  The first ...

  🖤Andrea’s Adventures🖤 Start Date: June 10-14th 2024 This week we were able to continue to collaborate with Dr. Amanda Gr ev at the WMREC (Western Maryland Research and Education Center) with my fellow interns Solomon and Raven! We helped out in weighing calves and weighing sheep. We all had to work together to herd the sheep's and cows to the middle station where we did the weight checks. Some of the sheep gave us a hard time- especially one in particular, her name is MJ and she can jump very high and can jump past the turnstiles. My mentor Mark is usually tasked with getting her back into the shoot to be weighed. We were told the animals that have a name were usually given one because they give the staff a hard time or are just special and unique haha! Sadly the cows do not have names- but I wish we could name them.  I also was able to learn how to use a Green Seeker machine in a corn crop setting. I met up with one of the extension workers at a farm in Damascus, MD to do...

In our July 18th Weekly Connection we discussed the film  Delmarva and the Ground for Change  followed by an agronomy and precision agriculture presentation by Jarrod Miller, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Agronomy from University of Delaware.  " What scene or practice featured in the film stood out to you? and why?" (Delmarva and the Ground for Change, from Audience/Classroom Discussion Questions). What ways do you see farmers or Extension educators apply practices that support soil health? In what ways are you learning about climate smart practices in your internship through education or research? Where and how have you seen precision agriculture used to support nutrient management, water application, or other farm management practices? Remember that your reader may not have seen the film!

  "Delmarva and the Ground for Change" is the film that we watched this week as part of our Weekly Connection meeting. The film is presented by USDA and talks about different environmentally friendly farming practices, and how farmers are being affected by climate change.  The film, Delmarva and the Grounds for Change brought to light the impact of climate change on agricultural practices in the Chesapeake Bay area. To some people, climate change may not seem like a pressing issue and they may not even realize that it affects access to food. Farmers constantly have to make adjustments to achieve their target yield and be able to stay in business. No-till practices, crop rotation, and grazing rotation are all ways that farmers can be more environmentally conscious. These practices have also been known to be more effective in production. It is important for farmers to also be precise when it comes to the materials they use such as pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. These ...

Owen Llewellyn and I setting up for the 4-H and FFA youth rabbit skillaton. Owen works at the Allegany County office as an IT specialist.   Last week the Allegany County Fair was underway! Even though Allegany County neighbors Garrett County this was my first time experiencing their fair. I enjoyed getting to work with more of the extension agents in Allegany and being able to work with their 4-H youth. I was able to assist Sarah Llewellyn in administering the 4-H and FFA rabbit skillathon and horticulture judging contest. At the Garrett County fair, we do not have a horticulture judging contest so it was enjoyable for me to help with this competition. It was so uplifting that after the contest some youth came up to me and struck up a conversation relating to horticulture. The kids' excitement and yearning to want to know if their thinking was correct and why the answer is what it was so encouraging for me. I delighted in being able to connect with the youth and use my time with th...

This week, for our weekly connection, we focused on the film Delmarva and Ground for Change . This film focused on different farms within the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay areas and on practices that ensure the sustainability and health of their soils. The two practices that caught my eye were carbon sequestering and no-till farming. Prior to this film, I had no clue what carbon sequestration was. According to the United States Geological Survey, it is the practice of storing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere within the ground, which can aid in reducing climate change (USGS, 2024).  As mentioned in the film, this requires more time, effort, and different equipment, which could deter farmers from focusing on it. By utilizing the different practices mentioned in the film, such as no-till farming, cover crops, and rotational grazing, farmers can help keep carbon within our soils. I found the no-till farming pretty interesting! When the Deerfield Farmers spoke up about the wet spot issues...

The practice featured in the film that stood out to me is the cover crops. Cover crop is a term that refers to plants, most of the time not sold for profit, that cover a specific plot of land for the purpose of protecting and building soil health.  This stood out to me because using this method addresses the issues that would be seen if farmers were to till and uproot their crops each growing season. Issues such as runoff, wet spots, erosion, and lack of soil nutrition. In the video, owner of Harborview farm, Trey Hill states, “as long as we don’t till that soil, that carbon is now secured in the soil.” This statement is true and further validates using cover crops for soil conservation in addition to carbon sequestration.  Picture of green roof description, taken at UMD campus on 6/27/24 by Ciera Most of my internship I have been working to process biomass data from farmers throughout the Eastern Shore, during that time I saw how many farmers are interested in growing cover c...