MPT Series Maryland Farm & Harvest Visits Anne Arundel, Cecil, Harford, and Queen Anne’s Counties During a Women in Agriculture-Themed Episode

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) popular original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, now in its seventh season, will feature farms and locations in Anne Arundel, Cecil, Harford, and Queen Anne’s Counties during a special episode about women in agriculture airing on Tuesday, December 10 at 7 p.m.

Maryland Farm & Harvest takes viewers on journeys across the state, telling stories about the farms, people, and technology required to sustain and grow Maryland’s number one commercial industry — agriculture. MPT’s production team filmed episode segments at more than four dozen farms in preparation for its seventh season.

Segments featured on the newest episode are:

• Spotlight on Kayla Griffith (Anne Arundel County): The Griffith family has farmed in Lothian for more than 100 years. Fifth-generation farmer Kayla Griffith has returned to the family farm after earning her master’s degree in agronomy and is looking to take over the farm someday. Kayla has relaunched the Griffith Family Produce business and is bringing new ideas to the farm as it enters a new decade of operation.
• Spotlight on Frances Bayard (Cecil County): Frances Bayard owns Ordinary Point Farm in Earleville, a portion of which features a narrow peninsula jutting out nearly a mile into the Sassafras River in Cecil County. Seeing the dangers of erosion on this important property, Frances and her late husband Jim reached out to the Cecil County Soil Conservation District, which began installing systems to mitigate erosion. Today, Frances continues her work to protect this special farmland and the wildlife that lives there.
• Spotlight on Margaret Ann Dodd (Queen Anne’s County): When Maryland Farm & Harvest caught up with Margaret Ann Dodd, she was driving a massive combine through a corn field. Margaret Ann and her husband Sonny own Springfield Farm in Queenstown and have worked there for almost 60 years. Ginger Harris from the National Agricultural Statistics Service explains how recent changes to the National Census of Agriculture help recognize more women – like Margaret Ann Dodd – for their vital contributions on America’s farms.
• The Local Buy: Raspberries (Harford County): The Local Buy segment host Al Spoler goes to Shaw Orchards in White Hall near the Pennsylvania line, where Barron and Jana Shaw run a fruit farm that’s been in the family since 1909. Al picks some beautiful red raspberries and talks to Jana Shaw, who runs the farm’s popular retail market. Then, she shares a delicious recipe for red raspberry pie, which is available online at mpt.org/farm.

Maryland Farm & Harvest airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and is rebroadcast on Thursdays at 11:30 p.m. and Sundays at 6 a.m. Each show also airs on MPT2 on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. Previous episodes of the series can be viewed for free on the MPT app and online at MPT’s website.

Viewers can join in on the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by using the hashtag #MDFarmHarvest.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture is MPT’s co-production partner for Maryland Farm & Harvest. Major funding is provided by the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board.

Additional funding is provided by: Maryland’s Best; the Maryland Agricultural Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation; MidAtlantic Farm Credit; the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program; the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation; the Rural Maryland Council; and the Maryland Soybean Board. Other support comes from: the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts; Wegmans Food Markets; the Maryland Nursery, Landscape & Greenhouse Association; the Maryland Seafood Marketing Fund; the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service; the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.; the Maryland Farm Bureau; The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; Mar-Del Watermelon Association; Eddie Mercer Agri-Services, Inc.; and Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission.

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Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter @MdAgDept