The farm interviews continued this week. I completed one community stakeholder interview and two farmer interviews on Monday. I visited Paul Barber’s farm with my field mentor, T, for a farmer interview. Paul is a CCE board member and CALS alumnus who raises pasture-based beef, grows hay, and is a partner at State Line Auto Auction. Paul focuses on land stewardship by grazing his cows to increase biodiversity and carbon sequestration in his fields.
Next, I stopped by Engelbert Farms for an interview. Kevin and Lisa Engelbert run the first organic dairy farm in the nation and Engelbert Farms Store and Creamery. After eating lunch at the farm store two weeks ago, I was glad to see the farm behind the store! Engelbert Farms also grows several vegetable crops.
A highlight of this week was visiting the Cornell solar grazing research site with several Extension colleagues. Niko Kochendoerfer gave us a tour of her research site and explained her research to us. In each paddock, the sheep graze at different densities (number of sheep per acre), and complete 4 full rotations through the paddocks each year. The difference in vegetation heights was visible between each of the paddocks, reflective of the density of sheep in that area. According to Niko, the solar grazing sheep experience less heat stress and consume less water than sheep grazing without panels for shelter. I was interested to learn that researchers track soil metrics, vegetation (pollinator habitat), ladybugs, wild bees, and sheep health at this site to understand how solar grazing impacts the ecosystem. The findings from this research will be very important to guide farmers’ decisions about agrivoltaics in the future. Thanks to T Hanson and David Kay for taking several great pictures.
At the start of my internship, my supervisor, Barb, gave me a mission to try all of the ice cream places in Tioga County as I drive all over the county for my farm visits. I haven’t completed the mission, but I did cross two more off my list: Dad’s Ice Cream and Hi-Way Dairy Bar (twice).
In the middle of the week, I went to the Candor Farmer’s Market, where CCE Tioga’s nutritionist Caitlin was tabling. I also joined the Tioga County Planning Board meeting and was able to observe the review of a solar project proposal. I gained insight into how solar siting decisions are being made at the county level and what qualities the Planning Board looks for in a solar proposal. I used the remaining time in the week to continue planning my final deliverables for this project.
I closed out the week with a solar interview with Logan Keeney at Farmer Brown’s Marketplace, where annuals, perennials, and produce grow in many greenhouses. FBM is a unique agrotourism enterprise with greenhouses full of plants, an aquaponics system growing basil with coy fish, and two shops in silos. The silos are built by one of the shop owners using reclaimed materials from farms in the area, with one hosting her shop and the other hosting an apothecary and gardening resource center. I enjoyed learning about the functions of the aquaponics system and seeing how each tank contributes to the process. I then completed another farmer interview by phone, adding even more perspective to my project.
I enjoyed all my farm visits this week and am enjoying meeting so many Tioga County community members through all of my field trips.