Upstate Institute Summer Field School Fellow Zachary O’Donnell ’27 sweeps an alfalfa field at a farm in Morrisville this summer as part of a research project working with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Central New York Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops Team. (Photo by Mark DiOrio)
Over the past ten weeks, I have been completely immersed in agriculture across Central New York. This summer, I had the opportunity to work with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Central New York Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crop (CNYDLFC) team alongside Field Crop specialist Erik Smith. Cornell Cooperative Extension aims to bridge the gap between New York state communities and the resources of higher education. As an intern on the Field Crop team, I aided in servicing producers across eight counties in CNY (Chenango, Fulton, Herkimer, Madison, Montgomery, Otsego, Saratoga, Schoharie). The CNYDLFC’s main missions are leading trainings for community members, conducting on-farm research, and performing site visits when issues arise.
The producers that the CNYDLFC services were incredibly receptive to the work that CCE does, and were always interested in how to make their systems better. We visited countless farms that were run by many different people, and this allowed me to understand different perspectives on agriculture. With that, I also got to interact with Amish farmers a few times, which was incredibly interesting as I got to understand their farming practices that are run completely without electricity! It was so rewarding to see so many different backgrounds all so interested in the applied science that CCE and Cornell are doing to better agricultural practices.
This summer, I assisted in data collection on many exciting projects either run by the CNYDLFC team or labs based at Cornell University. One of the main projects I collected data for was in response to the Birds and Bees Act, which will effectively ban the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments in 2029. In response, the Poveda lab at Cornell is conducting research trials across New York State comparing neonicotinoid treatments with other seed treatments. There were about 13 trial plots in the CNYDLFC counties where we oversaw planting, seed collection, stand counts, and biomass sampling. This was the first year of this project’s 3-year overall set of data collection. The goal of this project is to get people, specifically farmers, the most accurate information about the treatment that is being banned, as well as other treatments and alternatives to neonicotinoids.
I also assisted in sweeping alfalfa fields on about 30 farms in CNY. Sweeping fields, identifying insects, and reporting what we find is something that is incredibly important for farmers to be aware of. I focused on counting potato leafhoppers (PLH) since they are one of the most dangerous pests of alfalfa. If an alfalfa field has too many PLH per sweep, then a farmer might need to make a decision about whether to harvest early or spray pesticides. This is a decision that could cost them thousands of dollars each growing season, so delivering accurate data was incredibly important. The most meaningful part of my experience was seeing how impactful the work I was doing was for the farmers we visited.
I had an amazing time seeing so many farms across CNY, and it gave me a greater appreciation of agricultural systems as a whole, specifically the field crop sector. Extension is such a necessary aspect of academia that I honestly knew nothing about before this summer. It was incredibly eye-opening and exciting to be a part of the meaningful work that CCE does for residents of New York. Traveling around CNY with Erik made me really appreciate the area in which I go to school, and how beautiful this rural place we call home each school year really is! — Zachary O’Donnell ’27