To start off the Cornell Cooperative Extension internship, I participated in an introduction and training session for all the interns on Monday. It was really nice to meet everyone and learn about where they are from and what they are interested in, because even though many of us work on some of the same projects, we all have different goals and motivations for what we do. We wrapped up the day by getting ice cream at the Dairy Bar.
The remainder of the week consisted of field work, where I was collecting soil samples using a probe and marking points throughout fields using GPS. Tuesday, I was collecting soil for the Value of Manure project. This project aims to measure the impact of manure applications on soil health, which is assessed by microbial analysis in the lab. We got lucky with the weather since it was sunny but not too hot. It was tough because the soil was rocky, but we managed to finish by mid-day and returned to the lab to deliver the samples.
On Wednesday and Thursday, a few of us traveled to Western New York to meet with Jodi, an extension specialist. Here, we collected soil samples and marked plots for the sorghum trial project, which is looking to determine optimal fertilizer application rates for sorghum in New York State in order to create federal guidelines that farmers can follow. This will help the farmers to save money while preventing nutrient runoff into the environment. While collecting the samples on the first day, it took us a bit to get organized and coordinated, but eventually we were working very fast. On the second day, we weren’t so fortunate with the weather and had to mark dozens of points in the field in the middle of a major downpour, seen below. Because of the excessive rain, we were not able to collect soil samples. It was mostly funny until realized I was struggling to walk and I looked down at my feet. I had never gotten so much mud stuck to my shoes before.
Though it was a bit of a struggle, it was a good experience because I got a real taste of what the ups and downs of field work and extension can be like. Regardless, we got the job done and made it back safe. The plots were ready for the different fertilizer treatments of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that would get the experiment going.