Month: June 2017

Describe the highlight of your week at the KFP Summer Institute.

• How do you plan to implement something you learned at the institute in your classroom?
• How has the week compared with other PD opportunities you have attended?

This week was packed with meeting new people, learning new ideas and having fun.  My favorite part of the week was rafting down the river on Wednesday with the group.  I also was glad to have time to work with and get to know my team members and talk about our Ag night plans and ideas.  I will definitely be using some of the team building activities like the marble run, magic carpet and pvc pipe activities in my class and possibility at my church’s bible school next week!

The PD during this whole was was very different from most.  We had some great speakers with hands on activities to keep us engaged.  I really liked the fun activities tied into each day and the “day off” .  The food here was amazing also with friendly staff to make sure we always had what we needed.

Last Thursday was day 2 of my experience in Alamance County.  I travels to McPherson Farms in Mebane.   It was a beautiful sunny hot day in the middle of a wheat field about 2 miles south of the Tanfer outlets were the city and country begin to meet.  Micheal McPhearson was cutting his last field of wheat for the season and I became his ride along.  After several laps around the field he said “you want to drive?”  So I did! I got to drive the biggest machine I’ve ever driven a John Deer Combine going a whopping 4 mph!  We were there about 3 hours and the majority of the time was spent in the tractor,  I got to hear lots of stories and background about McPherson farm as well.  Luckily the combine had ac!   
Later that afternoon the IFAL tour group stopped by for a quick visit on their way back to A&T to see the remaining of the wheat field being cut and also learn about soil samples and GPS tools used in agriculture.  This wheat field we had just cut has been mapped out into a grid and soil sampling had already been done.  These samples are then sent off the a lab to get analyzed, a report is then sent back to the farmer with a recommendation of what to apply to the field for the next crop, which was going to be soybeans.  The fertilizer truck from southern states was also at the field for us to see it and the GPS equipment inside.  The map and coding for this field could be input into the trucks computer and then the truck can spread the recommended rate of fertilizer / lime onto the field.  The cool thing about this new technology is that it can spread differ amounts in different areas automatically as the driver is going around the field!  Why would you spend money for this ?  This technology helps save money by not wasting extra fertilizer that may not be needed in all areas and also will increase yields.  Overall agriculture is really big in lots of technology currrently and it going to continue to grow!  What do you think will be next ?  

Last Wednesday was our first outing as part of my summer experience for the project.  I attended the Alamance Co Food Collaborative meeting which was help at Pandora’s Pies (which was delicious).  The overall point for this meeting was that Elon University Dining wants to serve locally grown fresh produce.  We met with a variety of people in the community that all act in different roles and will be a part in getting this food collaborative rolling.  Some questions we are still pondering …. how do we get the farmers involved?  what rules and regulations have to be in place first?  is there enough of a demand to make it worth the time?

Do you know where your food you ate today came from?  How far did it travel to get to your plate?  Where is your favorite local place to shop?

I would love to hear your thoughts! Stay tuned for more to come!  Day 2 gets even better!

 

Hello everyone!  I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself.  I am currently one of two agriculture teachers at Western Alamance High in Elon NC.  This spring I was selected as a Kenan Fellow for the Developing the State of Agriculture sponsored by USDA and Alamance County Farm Bureau.  This summer I will be learning about agriculture in Alamance County, meeting farmers, and agribusiness owners.  I will also be attending learning institutes in Cullowhee at NCCAT , NC State , and Bayer this summer.  I will be sharing my experiences with every here! My overall goal or product is to have a community Agriculture event at my school next spring.