On Tuesday, Agustin (a graduate student in charge of the Dairy Sustainability project), Evelyn (another intern), and I went to a high school agricultural teacher conference in Oswegatchie. The center is 3 hours from Ithaca, so went spent 6 hours in the car sharing our favorite music and chatting. I really enjoyed getting to know Evelyn and Agustin better. Car rides are great for team bonding! While at the conference, Agustin presented his nutrient mass balance curriculum and Evelyn and I attended teaching sessions on livestock and landscaping. Both presenters emphasized to try what you are comfortable with and not be afraid to ask community members for supplies. It was fun listening to their teaching experiences. I have thought about being a teacher, but I am not sure I could handle kids who do not want to learn and angry parents. I have great respect for teachers; they put up with a lot. The photo below shows me, Evelyn, and Agustin at Oswegatchie.
On Friday, Lydia and I measured the hemp in the high tunnel and in the field, since more hemp was recently planted outside. Then we went to a farm to take bunk density samples. Agustin came along to help. Next week, we will put the samples in the oven and let them dry out so we can calculate percent dry matter and dry matter density, which shows how much feed is in the bunk. All feeds have varying amounts of moisture, so percent dry matter is a way to measure how much actual feed is present, since water does not have much nutrition in it (besides some dissolved nutrients). The first photo shows a bunk silo. The walls and floor are made of concrete and feed is stored under plastic and tires, which you can see better in the second photo. The tires are used to keep the plastic in place. The second photo shows me running (I had to warn Janice to move her car out of the way of the tractor), and the third shows Lydia and I trying to get the silage sample out of the drill core and into a bucket. All photos and videos below courtesy of Agustin Jose Olivo.
Video of Agustin taking a bunk sample.