Students get hands-on experience at Freeville

Students inspect newly laid plastic mulch.
Students inspect newly laid plastic mulch.

Students in Steve Reiners’ and Robin Bellinder’s Principles of Vegetable Production class (HORT 3500) spent Saturday morning at the Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research Farm in Freeville, N.Y., learning the ins and outs of more than a dozen tillage, planting and cultivation implements.

Farm manager Steve McKay explained the fine points of how each piece of equipment works, while field assistant Rick Randolph helped the students try their hand at operating the equipment in the field.

HORT 3500 focuses on commercial vegetable production from variety selection to postharvest. Students learn about crop physiology and culture, soil and pest management, stand establishment, marketing, and history of production, and take field trips to large-scale conventional, small, diversified, and organic farms.

Farm manager Steve McKay explains planter seed plate selection.
Farm manager Steve McKay explains planter seed plate selection.

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