inagnews COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
INSTITUTE OF APPLIED AGRICULTURE
SUMMER/FALL 2014
A Farm . . . Finally By Nina LaTassa Zippy zucchini. Tempting tomatoes. Succulent strawberries. Perfect peppers. Blooming basil. Who doesn't love fresh, sustainable produce to fill up a salad bowl? Now, thanks to “Terp Farm” UMD students and the College Park community can get a taste of farm-fresh fruits and veggies year-round! The twoacre sustainable farm is only 15 miles from the College Park campus, meaning that the bountiful crops harvested will be locally grown—and that much more delicious! What’s even better, however, is that our very own IAA students will be some of students responsible for tending the seeds of sustainability. “The IAA will be integrating the farm into its coursework, specifically the Analyzing Alternative Enterprises, Crop Production Practices, and Intro to Sustainable Agriculture classes,” said Meredith Epstein, Sustainable Agriculture Lecturer at the IAA. “All three classes will have time on the farm and help plan the farm. It will be like a lab!” This spring, students from the Plant Sciences department helped plant a pollinator garden and construct Terp Farm’s first high tunnel with the expert aid of Dining Service’s facilities team.
Admiring the greenhouse at the new Terp Farm.
Meanwhile, IAA’s Analyzing Alternative Enterprises class helped decide what crops to grow. In addition to the tasty treats mentioned above, students analyzed the feasibility of onions, green beans, and cilantro. “Students wrote 10 enterprise budgets to determine which crops could be profitable for Terp Farm,” continued Epstein. Those budgets were then presented at the Meet and Greet: Homegrown Eats event and to the Terp Farm Advisory Committee, including Guy Kilpatric, the newly hired farm manager. Kilpatric is using the students’ findings to inform his crop plan. He is also leading a crew of three student interns each summer. The IAA is providing funding for one of those students each year, so that IAA students interested in sustainable crop production have an opportunity to engage with Terp Farm to satisfy their internship Institute of Applied Agriculture 2123 Jull Hall, University of Maryland College Park, Maryland 20742-2525 iaa.umd.edu
requirement. That lucky farmhand will not only get paid for the internship but will also be given the opportunity to taste See FARM, pg. 3
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From the D irector ... p 2 Fab Four in F la ... p 3 Shields Mem orial ... p 4 Excellence A ward ... p 5 Graduation Day! ... p 6 Alumni New s ... p 9 Around the ‘Tute ... p 1 0