Eastern Shore AREC

At this research facility we learned many different things about the eastern shore area. They have large operations in vegetables, nurseries, grain, and cotton. There are 15-20 different crops commonly grown. There are many graduate students that take courses on campus and work on their field studies during the summer. Mark Reiter is the nutrient manager, Steve Rideout is the plant pathologist, Dr. Henry Wilson is the weed science specialist who just retired after 46 years. 80% of the farms in Virginia are K Cl deficient. The research facility has 226 acres total, 100 acres are tillable and 2 acres are organic. In the lab they use a microscope the most to preform plant pathology and most of the research for the plant pathology is done by a technician.

They use certain selective media for certain pathogens. They also have a colony counter to count bacteria. There is also a rapid test  that has a dip stick reader. There is a soil fertility lab also at the research facility. They can run a soil test for farmers like Virginia Tech does but the research facility only does it for research purposes. They have a -80* freezer to freeze cultures instead of trying to keep them going until they are needed. There are no plant material or soil in the molecular lab (Clean Lab). They use a field mapping system derived from Helena that send an electrical current from one probe to the furthest two outer probes.

Soil samples are taken from the different soil textures that are taken every second. Kyle Sturgis is a Helena representative. Helena is a chemical sales company that also scouts fields and takes soil samples. They use GPS and satellite imagery.

This was a very informative tour. It gave me the opportunity to talk with Kyle about a possible job after graduation as well as prospective grad school field studies. I really enjoyed hearing about the different crops that were grown on the eastern shore.