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Pictures are linked
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Background
photo shows wide shot of part of the property on the
West side of the recently acquired Gates Farm. Inset
- Craig Ingerick (left) and Pete Griner (right) from
Station's Field Research Unit check voltage in a section
of deer fence on the property.
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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2003
Contact:
Linda McCandless, 315-787-2417
Geneva
Experiment Station Increases its Capacity for Field Research
By Peter Seem
GENEVA, NY: The New York State Agricultural
Experiment Station, in Geneva, NY, has added the 75-acre Gates
Farm to the 730 acres of available research land being used by
the Station for field trials. The additional land will allow the
implementation of a new crop rotation schedule and insure the integrity
of field
trials at the Station.
"It is vital that we continue our efforts to provide high-quality research
facilities for our faculty and staff, thus allowing them to continue to provide
the best
information on fruit and vegetable crop production and protection," said
Bob Seem, associate director of the Experiment Station.
The Gates Farm will be divided between fruit and vegetable research. Some of
the fruit field space will allow the Station's highly successful apple breeding
program to expand under the leadership of Professor Susan Brown, while 15 acres
are part of a study run by Professor George Abawi on soil health.
The farm was purchased from Rosalie Kneut in 2001, and is located on Gates Road
in Geneva, NY, contiguous with the Station's Robbins and Lucey Farms. The Station's
Field Research Unit, managed by Mark Scott, spent over 2,000 man-hours improving
the farm's infrastructure to meet the needs of Station scientists. Improvements
include access roads, a surface water management system, underground irrigation
lines, deer fence and subsurface drainage, bringing the cost of the farm to $400,000.
"There was some second guessing about developing this farm during difficult
financial times, but it is in such times when New York's farmers most need the
support
of their state institutions," said Seem.
Agriculture is one of New York's biggest industries. Gross earnings from New
York's 37,000 farms topped $3 billion in 2002. However, both the earnings and
the number of farms are down from previous years as consolidation and a slowing
economy places greater demands on New York's food producers.
The addition of new faculty, the expansion of some programs at the Station over
the last decade and the turnover of some research land for the development of
the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park have created a greater demand
for field research space. In order to prevent overuse, an ideal crop rotation
would allow only half of the fields to be used in a given year. Crops like alfalfa
would be grown in the other half to help the soil restore nutrients and organic
matter. In recent years, demand for field space at the Station was so high that
as much as 80 percent of fields were in use during a given year. In light of
the strain this places on soil health, Stephen Reiners, an associate professor
in horticultural sciences, developed a crop rotation plan with the aim of restoring
soil quality.
Reiners identified lack of uniformity as the greatest problem researchers faced
as a result of the heavy use of field space. In order to maximize the use of
space, a large field project might use land that had been divided into different
plots the year before. If one of those plots had been in a rest year and the
other had not, there would be different levels of soil quality and compaction
across the research trial.
"You could be looking at your results, and you'd have to ask yourself, 'Is
this
because of different products I've applied, or is this because of soil differences?'," said
Reiners. Poor soil quality can also create additional strain on plants,
making them more susceptible to diseases and pests.
Reiners explained that the goal of most field studies is to recreate the conditions
on a working farm, where farmers are better able to predict land needs and plan
appropriate rotation schedules.
"An effective rotation would have been very difficulty without the extra
land," he
said. "The Gates Farm will give us the additional space we need to
give fields some rest." Rotation will allow researchers to better emulate
commercial conditions and improve the applicability of their work to New York's
fruit and vegetable producers.
"We are working hard to keep the Experiment Station the best facility
of its kind
in the country," said Seem. "The Gates Farm enhances our ability to
carry out fruit and vegetable research."
The Experiment Station was established by an act of the state legislature in
1880 and began operating in 1882, with the state's purchase of an 80-acre farm
for research trials. The Station became a part of Cornell University, New York's
land-grant university, in 1923. The Station now includes campuses in Geneva,
Fredonia, and Highland, NY, where scientists focus on food science, fruit, vegetable
and turf research.
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