Governor Martin O’Malley may be too tall to be a jockey but that didn’t stop him from venturing out to Fair Hill Training Center in Cecil County and climbing a top a retired thoroughbred racer to showcase Maryland’s horse racing industry and celebrate the State’s best-known horse event, The Preakness Stakes, which was held for the 136th time on May 21.

Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance and Deputy Secretary Mary Ellen Setting joined the Governor in a tour of the Fair Hill Facility – just not on horseback.

Animal Kingdom — the spectacular come-from-behind winner of the Kentucky Derby — trained at Fair Hill with world-renowned trainer Graham Motion. All eyes were on Animal Kingdom and Fair Hill again during the Preakness — another spectacular race that brought the feisty three-year old from a second-to-last place start to an exciting second place finish. (Fans of Animal Kingdom may get another chance to see the three-year-old run at the Belmont Stakes in New York in June.)

“Marylanders know that horse racing in our state is so much bigger and more valuable than just the one race,” said Governor O’Malley. “Some 28,000 jobs and more than 587,000 acres of farmland associated with the equine sector depend upon the stability and growth of the industry, and we’re committed to ensuring its thriving future for years to come.”

The O’Malley-Brown Administration has worked hard to keep the horse industry both viable and vibrant in Maryland.  For more, information.

Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance joined the

Chesapeake Bay Commission (CBC) this month to

highlight and applaud the nutrient reductions that will result from the Fertilizer Use Act of 2011 in an event held moments before Governor Martin O’Malley signed the bill into law.

In Maryland, there are an estimated 1.1 million acres of turf grass. Of that, about 937,000 acres are associated with private residences, rather than golf courses and other large plots.

The Fertilizer Use Act limits the nutrient content in bags of fertilizer used by homeowners, limits nutrient amounts used by professional applicators, requires training for professional applicators including golf course applicators, limits dates of application, and establishes a no-application zone next to water to protect from runoff.

The Governor’s Intergovernmental Commission for Agriculture (GICA) this month released a toolkit designed to help Marylanders understand farming and how they can support it. Understanding and Responding to the Changing Needs of Maryland Agriculture: A Toolkit for Local Communities aims to provide local communities and officials with a better understanding of the current state of Maryland agriculture. The toolkit suggests tools, methods and resources that will help farmers, their neighbors and local officials better work together towards creating communities that support both profitable agricultural production and a high quality of life. 

GICA is a public-private and interagency workgroup that promotes better collaboration and cohesion across state agencies and with citizens in an effort to support Maryland’s agricultural sector.  As a result, the toolkit includes broad-based input from a wide variety of contributors, to present a comprehensive look at the industry. For more information about the toolkit.

MDA’s 2011 Maryland Farmers’ Market Directory, which lists locations and hours of each market, is now available.  This year, some 120 markets will be open with at least one in every county and Baltimore City. Many of the farmers’ markets in the state are already open and offering early season produce and plants such as kale, salad greens, spinach, asparagus, strawberries, hanging flower baskets, bedding plants and garden seedlings. Farmers’ market locations, hours, and producer/vendor and product listings are also available on the Maryland’s Best website. Click here to read the press release.  

Governor Martin O’Malley invites teams made up of a chef and at least one farmer, waterman, or producer to submit original recipes using local ingredients for Maryland’s Fourth Annual “Buy Local Cookout,” to be held at Government House in Annapolis on Thursday, July 21. The cookout is the signature kick-off event for the statewide Buy Local Challenge Week (July 23 – 31) during which all Marylanders are encouraged to eat at least one local product each day of the week. Entries are due June 1. For more information and to submit an entry. Bon appétit!  

As we prepare to kick off the unofficial start of summer this month, Maryland is highlighting Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week (May 22-28). The effort aims to inform residents about ways to help stop the spread of the emerald ash borer, a destructive pest that kills ash trees.  Because the insect can be transported through firewood, the campaign encourages campers, anglers, scouts, and other outdoor enthusiasts to leave firewood at home, buy it at their destination and burn it completely.

Click here to learn more about the emerald ash borer and ways to help stop its spread. Marylanders can call the University of Maryland Home and Garden Information center toll-free at 800-342-2507 or the MDA at 410-841-5920 to report dying ash trees or for help identifying a possible emerald ash borer. Anyone can report suspect EAB through the Maryland Home and Garden Information Center’s online reporting form.

Jennie Schmidt of Sudlersville in Queen Anne’s County has been selected the northeast regional winner of Monsanto’s America’s Farmers Mom of the Year Contest. Schmidt was selected by judges from Monsanto and American Agri-Women in recognition of the contributions she makes to her family, farm community and the agricultural industry.   

Schmidt Farms, Inc. is a 2,000-acre, third-generation family farm with diversified crops, including corn, feed- and food-grade soybeans, wheat, barley, hay, tomatoes, green beans and wine grapes. In addition, Jennie and her family began a custom vineyard management business in 2009, providing a wide range of services to grape producers and wineries in the region.  

Visit www.AmericasFarmers.com to learn more.

Many USDA Child Nutrition programs run year round and your opportunity to partner doesn’t end when school lets out. MDA is working with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to facilitate better communication between Maryland farmers and food service suppliers for the child nutrition programs.   

USDA just announced the final rule which will allow schools and other providers to give preference to unprocessed locally grown and locally raised agricultural products as they purchase food for the National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Special Milk, Child and Adult Care, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable, and Summer Food Service programs. To learn more, contact Karen Fedor at 410-841-5773 or fedorkm@mda.state.md.us.

Chair, Rural Maryland Council

Bonnie Braun grew up on a farm in rural Missouri and will someday retire to one in rural Pennsylvania. In between, however, she has established herself not only as a scholar and popular professor at the University of Maryland at College Park, but as a widely regarded and committed researcher and advocate on behalf of rural communities and families. Currently, she serves as the Chair of the

Rural Maryland Council (RMC), an independent agency housed in the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Dr. Braun has served on the RMC Board for 11 years.

“The Rural Maryland Council is the only agency in state government that focuses exclusively on the needs of rural areas,” she said. “We are a very small agency so we work very hard to target our time and resources to the most pressing and unaddressed issues faced by rural areas. During the last few years, we have focused on ways to address the health care work force shortages that are putting our rural communities and residents, including farmers, at risk.”

Three years ago, Dr. Braun – who earned her Ph.D. in Family Consumer Sciences Education at the University of Missouri – was named the first Endowed Chair and Director of the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, the only academic center of its kind in the nation. After her appointment, one of her top priorities was to work with the RMC to ensure rural communities and families were included in all of the Center’s start-up activities and long-term strategic planning. A brochure that the Center and the Council developed recently received a national award from the Center for Plain Language.

“The tie between health and agriculture seems so obvious to some of us,” she said. “For others, it’s a tie that needs to be explained in a way so that people can get it and use it.  Professionals in the fields of health and agriculture are all striving to produce goods and services that contribute to health and well-being.  Part of my job is to help people make that connection.”

Through her work with rural families, Dr. Braun recognized a need for, and developed the Council’s successful Rural Family’s program – an initiative that trains rural-serving nonprofit organizations to help low-income rural families learn to save and manage their money and become more economically stable. Because of Dr. Braun’s reputation and connections, she garnered support for the program from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and its Rural Family Economic Success initiative. The Foundation has funded the Council’s program for six years. In that time, 23 nonprofits have received $442,000 in Casey-funded grants and training.

Dr. Braun has written and lectured extensively across the country. She has held appointments at Oklahoma State University, Virginia Tech University and the University of Missouri. She served as Interim Deputy Administrator of Extension at USDA for one year and as director of the evaluation program of Maryland’s Food Stamp Nutrition Education for eight years. She continues to serve as a faculty member in the UM Department of Family Science and Specialist with the University of Maryland Extension.

Dr. Braun and her husband (and one-time 4-H competitor), have two grown children and two grandchildren. They live in Laurel, but spend their weekends and free time on their farm in Pennsylvania. There, they are preserving the heritage of rural living, producing food and introducing the next generation to the work and wonder of the land.

Recipe courtesy of Lucie Snodgrass, author of Dishing Up Maryland 

2 pounds asparagus, trimmed

2 oranges

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 spring onions, finely chopped

2 shallots, peeled and minced

¼ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Steam the asparagus in a steamer over the boiling water for 5 minutes, and then remove immediately and plunge the asparagus into a bowl of ice water. Drain the asparagus, pat dry, transfer to a serving dish, and refrigerate.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Use a zester to remove the zest from the oranges in long, thin strips. Boil the zest for 2 minutes, and then drain it and plunge it into cold water. Drain the zest, and then plunge into cold water again. Finally, drain the zest and pat dry. This process will remove much of the bitterness.

Juice the zested oranges, Combine ½ cup orange juice with the lemon juice, onions, shallots, and orange zest. Whisk in the olive oil and vinegar; season with the salt and pepper. Let the dressing stand for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle

Remove the asparagus from the refrigerator and pour the dressing over the dish. Serve immediately.

It’s time to start looking for local Maryland strawberries! These sweet beauties beat the biggest West Coast berry any day. The ripening process of strawberries truly makes local much better than those that are put on trucks and shipped a thousand miles or more. So, ask for Maryland strawberries at your grocery store. Or pick your own! Click here for a list of farms and markets near you.