Vol. 16, No. 38	Aug. 7, 1997

Farm manager's schedule is more than 9 to 5

Surrounded by the University campus and city of Newark is a slice of rural Delaware-the UD farm, formerly known as the Webb farm.

The 400-acre spread is anchored by an old farmhouse, dating back to the early years of the last century, and is home to 55 ewes, seven swine, 100 dairy cows, 25 beef cattle, some horses and chickens by the hundreds.

Used for research and teaching, the farm is an outdoor laboratory and provides hands-on experience for students, according to the new farm superintendent, Scott Hopkins, who has been livestock manager for the past four years.

In addition to livestock, Hopkins also is responsible for the farm unit, which raises crops for silage; the greenhouse; the poultry unit; and dairy unit. He lives on site, in the old farmhouse with his wife, Karen, and 3-year-old daughter Haley.

"Farming is not a 9-to-5 job, and you have to be on call 24 hours a day for any problems or emergencies that arise. You look for problems and take care of them quickly, such as a break in the fence or trouble with the water supply when an underground pipe freezes," he said.

"Power outages can cause problems, too, as chickens in the broiler houses cannot tolerate extremes of temperature and refrigeration units have to be kept running. Emergency generators have to be hooked up quickly or a whole research project can be ruined, " Hopkins said, pointing out that the University is a leader in research on poultry diseases.

"We also run generators off tractors for such things as milking the cows if there is no power," he said.

Hopkins teaches a livestock lab, but not in a traditional classroom. Instead of lab coats, the appropriate garb is jeans and boots. Students are out in the farm buildings and fields learning the myriad tasks associated with raising stock, from weeding fie lds to improve pasture land, to learning how to herd cows, castrate bulls or trim sheep's feet.

"I tell the students there is more to raising animals than just giving them food and then leaving. You have to check the animals' health, see that equipment is working and that the surroundings are safe and secure. You have to work until all the tasks are done. That can mean some long days and late nights when you're baling hay before it rains or when it's lambing time.

"It's gratifying to see students who have never had experience with livestock progress and become confident working and caring for the animals. Research has shown the better you treat your animals, the better off you are as a farmer," he said.

The operation is run efficiently so that students learn modern farming methods. For example, cows are treated with hormones so that they can be bred and calve within a certain time period. Ewes are treated in a similar manner, as it is more efficient to s ell several lambs and calves at one time than singly, Hopkins said.

Modern technology also is used are used for such things as inventories or keeping track of lambs' or calves' weight and progress.

Visitors and school children come to the farm or attend special events such as Ag Day to learn about the animals. "It's an eye opener for some people who have never seen a cow milked or haven't realized where their hamburger and porterhouse steaks come fr om," Hopkins said.

Hopkins first learned about livestock by helping out on his grandfather's farm in Ohio, and he said he has always enjoyed working with animals. He graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park with a bachelor's degree in animal science in 1990 and became a research associate at the University of Maryland Wye-Angus Research Center before coming to Delaware in 1993.

--Sue Swyers Moncure<<