Horticulture Facilities
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INTRODUCTION
The Horticulture Research Farm is located approximately 10 miles southwest of University Park at the Rock Springs Agricultural Research Center. Horticulture, Agronomy, Plant Pathology, and Entomology are the major departments involved at these facilities which also is the site of the annual College of Agriculture’s Ag Progress Days. Several other departments within the College of Agriculture as well as other colleges at Penn State cooperate in the work done at the Research Center. The land for this center was purchased starting in the late 1950’s and has now grown to over 2100 acres. There are 100 research acres at the Hort  Farm. We presently have 8 acres of apples, 1.5 acre peaches, 4 acres shade trees and conifers, .5 acres strawberries, 1 acre raspberries, and 0.25 acres of grapes. Approximately 25 acres are utilized annually for small-plot research crops. The remaining acreage involves the crop rotation crops, wheat, red clover, buckwheat, soybeans, sweet corn and field corn.The major building at the farm has two small laboratories, two offices, a work area, and a shop. A supporting 24’x28’ research building was built in 1995. It contains a heated 18x24’ work room, (2) 12’x12’ walk-in cooler and a 18’x24’ grading room. A production greenhouse is attached to the central work area. In the spring of 2004, a 30’x96’ high tunnel was erected to serve as a cold frame with the potential of heating it with a plastic burner furnace. We also utilize two large storage barns, and 30’x90’ and 30’x45’ machinery sheds. Separate apple and potato grading areas are provided. There is an orchard spray shed for seasonal chemical storage and tank filling. A sealed storage tank is used for sprayer tank rinsing. Irrigation has been available from a two-acre and a five-acre pond. Separate distribution systems from these ponds were recently linked together to provide better coverage to the research plot areas. We utilize trickle, fixed overhead and a traveling gun to provide irrigation to the research crops and orchard. The present farm staff includes a supervisor, a group leader, a farm mechanic/machinery operator and a hort-technician/machinery operator. Approximately 6-8 faculty members are involved in research tests each year at  the farm, with more than one-half of these faculty utilizing the farm for a major portion of their research. A farm committee serves in an advisory capacity. The role of the farm staff is to provide assistance to the project leaders. Land preparation (plowing, fertilization, herbicides, etc.) and maintenance (cultivation, spraying, etc.) are done by the farm staff. Direct research treatments are made by the researcher or by a farm crew member under the direct guidance of the faculty member. Field assignments, crop rotations and most chemical recommendations are made by the farm supervisor in consultation with the project leaders. Land assignments are normally made in January for the next season. Work requests are filed with the supervisor in writing or e-mail; and the work is assigned to the staff on work sheets for spraying, fertilizing, tilling, etc. In the off-season, all field records, spray records, and inventories of materials are updated and summarized on the computer located in the farm office. |
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