As Wolfe’s Neck Center provides learning experiences for local children with creative new approaches this fall, a little white building surrounded by our farm fields stands to remind us of a very different kind of education in the past.
Watch as our Research Coordinator and UMaine Cooperative Extension Professor go through a test plot of warm seasonal annuals planted in June. This study is to assess how warm season annuals could be integrated into a dairy grazing system in the Northeast. They discuss the different forages, why they’re important in a dairy system, and how they can be used in Northeast climates.
Tufts grad students Cora and Simone spent two months at Wolfe’s Neck Center assisting with on-farm research projects, ranging from collecting soil samples, to inputting dairy operations data into an online record keeping platform, and more. They walked out to pasture one last time to reflect on all they learned during a summer spent contributing to the health of a regenerative farm system.
Wolfe’s Neck Center has a rich history of innovation and experimentation in farming and food systems, and the future of farming depends on this resilience. By integrating technology into a daily farm operations and management, we can build soil health on farms in the face of climate change. Take a look at some of our newly implemented tech tools used to collect and manage on-farm data.
The B3 (Bovine Burp Buster) Project begins this summer at Wolfe’s Neck Center to study the effect of adding seaweed to the diet of dairy cows on reducing methane emissions. Learn more about the project from our new Agricultural Research Coordinator.
We’re in the barn today to introduce you to the youngest of our cows, the calves and heifers. Learn about their shared housing style, what they eat, how we care for them, and more!
We’re in the new growth forests behind our Livestock Education Barn today! To one side is pastoral landscapes, and to the other is a saltwater estuary, home to a diverse array of species. Today we learn more about reptiles and amphibians!
Our newest batch of chicks arrived this morning, just in time for a spotlight on them in this morning’s farm tour. Learn more about their role here, how they eat, their incubated brooders, and more.
Here’s a loop that will take you through the various ecosystems across the campus and give you a look at our campground. This walk is just under 2 miles, and the perfect way to spend an afternoon. You get a little bit of everything – animals grazing on pasture, seedlings popping up in soil, and waves lapping on the shore of Casco Bay. Can you spot everything our educator saw on his walk?
Wolfe’s Neck Center educator Andrew brings us onto pasture for a visit with some friendly members of our organic dairy herd! We’ll meet a few of them (hello Tumbler, hello Tater!) and learn about why the health of our pastures is so important for our cows’ nutrition.