字幕列表 影片播放 列印英文字幕 >> I'm Bruce McPheron, dean of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. We all know that the food on our table starts on a farm somewhere, but we tend to overlook a number of key factors in how that food makes it from the farm to the table. One aspect that's frequently overlooked is the importance of research in ensuring we have a safe, healthy, nutritious and affordable food supply that's produced in an environmentally sustainable manner. Here in the College of Agricultural Sciences, our research -- both in the past and into the future -- encompasses a wide range of topics. We work from the field, to the barn, to the laboratory, to the table, in order to ensure that we're producing the food that we need to sustain our society. Dairy is a really critical part of Pennsylvania agriculture. It accounts for nearly 50% of the farm gate value to Pennsylvania farmers. Here at the dairy farms, I'd like to take you through a description of some of the work that we're doing, to ensure that this critical segment of Pennsylvania agriculture has a role in the commonwealth's future. Pennsylvania's dairy industry is extremely diverse. [Background work environment sounds] We see everything from herds of a few cows to herds of thousands of cows. We see everything from pasture-based systems to operations where the cows are confined in comfortable barns. One thing that's common to all of Pennsylvania's dairy herds is the need for efficient production, leading to good cow health, good cow comfort and environmental sustainability. Here in the College of Agricultural Sciences, we have researchers who've spent years looking at the nutritional components of dairy diets. Two nutrients are particularly important in Pennsylvania: Nitrogen and phosphorus. These are important, because we're concerned not only with the raw materials that it takes to turn feed into milk, but also with aspects of the environmental quality of our water and air, here in Pennsylvania. One of the features that we have been studying is the importance of different sorts of feed components. We're trying to take advantage of Pennsylvania's rich forage production capacity -- the grasses and legumes that we can produce so well here in Pennsylvania -- and adding those to dairy diets, even in systems like this. Our work on what we call precision feeding is designed to ensure that the nutrients that we put into the cow are used as efficiently as possible, in making that -- the milk that we're harvesting from the cows. Of course, the other product that we harvest from the cows is the manure out the other end. There are environmental issues with the disposal of that manure. And by precision feeding, to put in just enough nutrients on the front end, we can control, to a greater extent, what's happening on the back end of the cow. The work that we've done over the past couple of years here on reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that is in the feed has actually led to a two-thirds reduction in the amount of phosphorus in the manure of the cows. This has great implications for things like Chesapeake Bay water quality. A reduction of nitrogen that we put into the feeds reduces the production of ammonia in the manure, which actually leads to better air quality. This is important in Pennsylvania, where a lot of our dairy operations are found side-by-side with residential communities. Now, we talked about the research aspect of these facilities, but it's important to know that here in the college, we turn that research into educational knowledge. And we in these dairy barns actually employ 50 to 60 students each year in not only taking care of the animals, but learning how we conduct research and the importance of research for actual on-the-ground management. That's in addition to all the many classes that come out and use a facility like this is a learning -- a living laboratory. We also educate, through our cooperative extension programs, taking the knowledge that we've generated through research to consultants and farmers directly, so that they can put these new ideas into practice in their own operations. [ Machinery sounds ] >> We're here on some of Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences research land. The college actually operates a substantial amount of land base, to conduct the experiments that we need to support agricultural research in our education programs. This is our bioenergy work that we're doing. It's a huge interest nationally and internationally in renewable sources of energy, and we've been working for several years at helping devise the techniques that Pennsylvania farmers will be using, to take advantage of the interest in renewable energy. What you see here is actually winter canola. We have a crop that has followed the planting and harvesting of wheat in this particular field. And this crop will grow as a cover crop through the winter and actually provide a second crop that comes from the same land in the spring and into early [audio drop] then it will continue growth, finish maturing and be harvested by combining; and we'll use this to press oil that we can use as renewable fuels. The interesting feature of canola, which is one of the mustards -- it's related to mustard seed that you find in your kitchen, and it is, in fact, the source of canola oil, as you would use for cooking -- is that it can be processed a lot of different ways, including into biodiesel, a processed fuel with properties very similar to petroleum-based diesel; but as we'll see a little later, actually can be used directly as a fuel as a straight vegetable oil. These kind of crops are simply one of the types of work we're doing to prepare Pennsylvania farmers for the future. A lot of folks wonder why we have to do continued research on growing plants in Pennsylvania. But as we introduce new crops into the mix, there is research that's required, to be able to help our farmers take advantage of this for the consumers of Pennsylvania. [ No audio ] [ Background equipment sounds ] >> Now you've seen canola growing in the field. That plant will grow through the winter. It will mature next year and will be harvested by combine. And here, actually, are what canola seeds look like. Now, this equipment beside me is a farm-scale operation, to actually take those seeds and press them into using usable byproducts. We talked about winter canola as an energy crop. What we're getting from this crushing machine is actually canola oil coming out, and that canola oil can be used directly as a feedstock for diesel engines, or it can be further converted by refining into a biodiesel. In addition to the value of the fuel and the oil itself, we get some interesting byproducts. You see the meal that is the result of the pressing process coming out here; and this actually has nutritional value for livestock agriculture. And so, for the farmer, this is an opportunity to expand crop production, use the full growing seasons available from these different sorts of crops -- food crops through the summer and perhaps energy crops through the winter -- and to be able to extract value-added, both in the terms of renewable fuel and also nutritional value that comes back into this operation. Our next step, then, is to see how we actually use this fuel product in the field. [ Machine engine sound ] [ Background machinery sounds, mike wind effects ] >> You've seen energy crops growing in the field, and you've seen how we take those energy crops and turn them into oils and fuels, with the press. Now let me close the loop for you. That New Holland tractor you just saw go by -- New Holland's a Pennsylvania company -- is running on straight vegetable oil. We've had a partnership for the last