University of Georgia
UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences J. Phil Campbell Sr. Research and Education Center
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Standard Operating Procedures

SOPs for the use of JPCREC/Iron Horse Farm facilities and fields

We need to maximize the usefulness of JPCREC/IHF, ensure the buildings remain as rodent and pest-free as possible, and be able to proudly welcome visitors. Accordingly:

Facilities

  • Please leave our facilities and fields as clean or cleaner than you found them. We don’t have enough staff to clean up after users.
  • Sample drying/storage/processing areas should be kept in an organized manner.
    • All samples and materials being handled in these areas need at a minimum, crop name, PI name, and a date if they are still there at the end of the day.
  • The JPCREC/Iron Horse Farm does not have sufficient storage space for long-term (> 1 year) sample storage.  Our storage space is designed for the short-term storage and processing of samples; one year or less.  If you need long-term storage for processed or unprocessed samples, please address those needs with your department head.
  • Never store samples on the floor. Please contact Brooke Hale (JPC-Watkinsville) or Gabriel Barnhart (JPC-Iron Horse) in advance if you need storage space assigned for samples.
    • Samples stored at JPCREC/Iron Horse must be tagged and include, at a minimum, crop name, PI name, and date. Samples found without these identifiers will be discarded.
  • Employees processing samples must budget time at the end of each day to clean their work area. All seed and plant material on the floor must be swept up and placed in a trash bin daily. JPCREC/Iron Horse staff will empty trash weekly, or as needed.
  • Do not dump thrashed material, plant samples, etc. on the gravel aprons surrounding the buildings at Iron Horse. Iron Horse staff will place a receptacle for refuse at your work site upon request. There is a trash receptacle at the southern end of the gravel apron on the HQ side of the facility.
  • Do not dump thrashed material, plant samples, etc. in the mulch beds at JPC-Watkinsville. There are receptacles for waste in the sample processing/drying building. If you are generating large quantities of waste, please contact Brooke Hale (JPC-Watkinsville) to make arrangements for your waste.
  • Label all seed/samples stored in the cold room/freezer with, at a minimum, crop name, PI, and the date of placement. Please log your seed/samples into the inventory sheet that is outside the cold room.
  • Keep work and storage areas in the equipment storage buildings neat and tidy at all times.
  • Promptly address machinery that is leaking fluid(s) of any type. JPCREC/Iron Horse staff can provide absorbents upon request.

Fields

  • Prior to the initiation of a field study, Principal Investigators (PIs) should communicate their needs to the farm superintendent/farm manager(s). Following the appropriate discussions, PIs are required to submit a Research Farm Project Outline and have that outline approved.  All PIs conducting studies at either JPC-Watkinsville or Iron Horse should select “J. Phil Campbell Sr. Research and Education Center” as the ‘participating research farm’. Please begin this process well in advance of your proposed planting date.  No field will be planted without an approved project outline number.
  • Passenger vehicles should remain on the gravel roads, or shoulder(s) of the gravel roads at all times.  Passenger vehicles should not be driven in fields. Driving vehicles in fields creates roads, compacts the soil, and creates a problem for those who follow your research. If you need vehicle access to the interior of your field for any reason, JPCREC/Iron Horse staff will provide you with a side-by-side utility vehicle upon request.
  • JPCREC/Iron Horse trailers, when available, can be borrowed to transport equipment offsite. Please schedule this well in advance.  We expect trailers to be returned to us in the same condition that they were in when loaned. We will make every effort to ensure that the trailers are roadworthy for you. If a tire, wiring, etc. is damaged during your use of the trailer, you are responsible for covering repairs associated with your use.
  • Please schedule JPCREC/Iron Horse staff assistance with field activities well in advance.  We have many requests during the growing season and the weather gets a vote.
  • Local weather conditions at JPC-Iron Horse  |  Local weather conditions for JPC-Watkinsville
    • Scrolling to the bottom of the page and selecting “Yesterday’s conditions” will generate a four-day summary of the weather on site. Please use this resource and common sense when scheduling field activities/visits around the weather. The JPCREC/Iron Horse staff is happy, via phone, to answer any questions you may have regarding current weather/field conditions.
  • All non-biodegradable plot marking devices (metal flags, fiberglass, etc.) must be removed from your plots at the end of the growing season. They damage our equipment when left in the field.

Please know that your research is important to us, It’s the reason we come to work.  Please trust us to schedule field activities, irrigation, etc. in a manner that is the most beneficial for your goals, others who have made requests, and current field/weather conditions.