Farmers splash
A University of Delaware agronomist uses a grain drill and
combine as an improvised stage to explain research and
demonstration work to a crowd of rain-drenched farmers
during the dowr ir at the recent field day.
through
field day
NEWARK., Del. They used to
say, “It never rams for Field
Day.” But after 38 dry Farm and
Home Field Days at the Umversity
of Delaware’s experimental farm
near Georgetown, they finally got
a wet one.
Visiting farmers loved every
drought-quenching drop of the
near steady downpour that
dumped a welcome 1.15 inches of
ram on the August 12 festivities,
however. After weeks of watching
crops shrivel and dry in many
downstate fields, no one was
complaining.
Like field days at many other
land grant colleges and
agricultural experiment stations
around the country, the
Georgetown event usually features
wagon and bus tours of research
and Extension demonstration
plots. These give farmers a chance
to see what’s being done to help
solve some of the production
problems with the crops they grow.
As the ram kept coming, sub
station director,Ed Ralph and
other field day planners had to
make some quick logistical
decisions, mcludmg where to feed
the large crowd that, normally
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 5,1981—A17
gathers tui me traditional chicken
dumei m me farm grove at noun.
By calling on the hospitality of
the congregation of the small
white-painted Asbury Methodist
Church just down the road —which
made their dining hall available
and by squeezing folks into every
available bit of space at the sub
station office building, they
managed to feed about 500 people
in spite of the downpour.
Impromptu indoor seminars on
crop production and soil fertility
were held in the research farm’s
new 100’x40’ equipment storage
building instead of the scheduled
field tours.
Inside the huge Butler building,
resourceful planners backed a
gram drill up against a big red
combme and used this makeshift
stage for easel talks on current
research and Extension projects
related to the production of com,
soybeans and small grains. In
terested farmers and agribusiness
representatives stood on the
concrete floor below asking
questions, while just beyond the
open doorway, waiting wagons
stood forgotten, their hay bale
benches soaking up the rain.
There were a few general bus
tours of the farm as the day
progressed, as well as tours of the
university’s confinement swine
production facilities, but most
information-sharing went chi in
that shed.
The consumer program
originally scheduled to be held
under the trees in the farm grove,
was shifted to the substation
meeting room. There, visitors
watched Extension home
economists demonstrate creative
ways to prepare squash and pork.
A barbecued pork presentation
became, instead, a session on
"what to do when your picnic gets
rained out” still full of tasty,
useful ideas.
For those visitors who did get out
onto the farm, the most obvious
differences to be seen were those
between irrigated and non
irrigated plots.
“The Georgetown Substation is
in one of the driest parts of the
peninsula,” says Ed Ralph. In the
past few years, the section from
Georgetown up to Seaford has
suffered more than most other
parts of the state, he says. The
August 12 rain brought the first
significant water some local
farmers had seen since July 7.
“Because of the potential for
drought, most research plots at the
substation are irrigated each year.
Even so, because of high tem
peratures, all plantings there were
seriously affected this summer,”
says Ralph. Without irrigation he
doubts there would be much data
to be collected from trials at the
research farm this year.
Field Day may not be the mos
convenient time to get an inch or si
of rain, but when you’re hurting foi
water, who minds some in
convenience?
Patz
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