Week Two with Extension by Cole Chapman

Working with WMREC mentor Dr. Amanda Grev on collecting poop samples from cattle from the flerd project

This second week of the internship has led me to learn more about other projects done by UME beyond crop scouting. Monday gave me a glimpse into the work my fellow interns at the Western Maryland Research and Educations Center (WMREC) were doing. The project that they’re working on is interspecies grazing in a “flerd” (flock of sheep and a herd of cattle). It was interesting to learn about the different pasture grasses used for raising the animals and the techniques used to monitor the growth of the animals.

During our weekly internship meeting on Monday, we discussed different agricultural philosophies. As someone with little to no background in agriculture, it was interesting to see the divide between industrial and Agrarian agricultural ideas. We also had a guest presentation during our internship meeting. Dr. Jarrod Miller, an extension agent with the University of Delaware, gave a presentation about precision agriculture. During his presentation, we learned about new technological advancements to monitor agriculture on a field-by-field basis to maximize yields. Hearing about how technology such as satellites and drones improve agriculture made me realize that people from outside agriculture-specific fields of study can still contribute to improving agricultural production.

Another thing that I worked on was updating a spreadsheet that was monitoring the grain market. Having some experience in economics through taking AP Macro/Micro made it easier to learn some of the marketing concepts. It was interesting to see how the prices of corn, soybeans, and soft red winter (SRW) wheat (the primary type of wheat grown in Maryland) have declined since May of 2022. My primary mentor, Mark Townsend, Showed me a website with daily videos explaining market trends, and it has helped me keep track of how agriculture connects to world affairs.

One final thing I did this week was help write a weed of the week article for UME’s weekly IPM report. I had never really considered getting my work published as one of my initial goals, but it has worked its way into parts of my internship. Mark gave me the idea to write a publication about Corn Earworms which I am currently working on. Getting something published would of course look good on my resume, but I feel like it would serve as a way for me to get out into the world and build confidence in my writing.

Overall, the first two weeks of this internship have shown me many things I never considered when I thought about food. I look forward to further discovering what other projects UME does to improve agriculture and teach the next generation the importance of where their food comes from.

No till (left) vs. tilled (right) soil at the historical farm near the Montgomery county office of extension.