Maryland Department of Agriculture News

Extreme weather – hot and dry to cold and rainy – has made for a typical Maryland spring where Mother Nature always seems to throw us a curveball.  Yet, agriculture and Maryland farmers remain resilient in their efforts to provide a nutritious, safe food supply. The recent rain has provided much needed relief for some of the drier spots across the state, and crops are about two weeks ahead of schedule. Be sure to buy local asparagus and sweet, juicy strawberries while they are still in season! 

With this early start to spring, Marylanders are getting out and sprucing up their lawns and gardens. Forty-four percent of all fertilizer sold in Maryland is lawn fertilizer. A new law is going into effect next fall to protect the Chesapeake Bay from excess nutrients entering its waters from urban and suburban sources, including golf courses, parks, athletic fields, and hundreds of thousands of suburban and urban lawns. The law limits the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that may be contained in lawn fertilizer products. 

MDA, in partnership with the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center, is providing information on how homeowners can comply with Maryland’s Lawn Fertilizer Law online. We are also offering tips for sustainable landscaping and ideas for how to incorporate good environmental stewardship for lawns and gardens. For anyone who would like to grow their own food, Master Gardeners have created a great website with valuable and interesting information at growit.umd.edu.  

The 2012 General Assembly Session ended April 10 and several bills passed that will help MDA strengthen consumer protection, enhance food safety and improve water quality.  These included a bill to increase the cap (maximum amount per project) for water pollution control projects from $100,000 to $200,000. This will  help poultry and livestock farmers in manure management and storage.  Additionally, the animal waste technology projects included in the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Fund will be transferred from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development to MDA. The fund is designed to give farmers new answers to animal waste challenges. Learn more on our website.

Several additional bills passed that are also of interest to the agricultural community. The 2010 Bay Trust Fund now includes funding for manure-to-energy projects and additional soil conservation district technicians. Many of you will also be happy to know that the “estate tax” bill, passed unanimously in both houses. This will allow farms valued less than $5 million to be passed down from generation to generation without incurring estate taxes, provided that the land stays in agricultural use for at least 10 years. This bill will help preserve family farms and opens spaces.

MDA is finalizing a revised nutrient management package. We plan to meet with stakeholders in early May and anticipate submitting the regulations to the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review in mid-May.  The revised regulations will be published in the Maryland Register for a 45-day public comment period that will likely run from mid-June through July.

  Governor O’Malley and I attended the Delmarva Poultry Industry’s 56th Annual Booster Banquet in Salisbury this month.  There, he thanked our poultry growers and companies for their continued input into how we can better strengthen our poultry industry, strengthen agriculture, and protect farming jobs.  He applauded poultry as Maryland’s top agricultural industry and its importance to the economy. The poultry industry provides thousands of jobs and businesses, and is the lifeblood of the Eastern Shore economy and lifestyle. 

At the banquet, Governor O’Malley also recognized Alan and Kristin Hudson, saying the allegations filed in federal court by the Waterkeeper Alliance against the Berlin poultry growers “struck me as an injustice.”  He thanked them for “hanging in there,” and said “You should not be litigated off your land.”  A trial date for the case has been set for October 9. We are hoping for a successful resolution to the case.

   Congratulations to students and staff at Southern High School in Anne Arundel County for their new Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) program. It was great to see students excited about agriculture!

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee approved a five-year, half trillion-dollar farm bill farm that would save $24.7 billion over 10 years. The bill cuts subsidy payments in favor of new crop insurance programs and represents one of the biggest policy changes in generations. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

We encourage you to stay informed as the legislation moves forward and to contact your elected officials about issues important to you. Lawmakers are charged with implementing new farm legislation before the current law expires on Sept. 30. We will keep you posted.

In other federal news, the U.S. Department of Labor has withdrawn the controversial Child Labor in Agriculture proposal – including provisions to define the ‘parental exemption’ – in response to thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms.  Instead, the Departments of Labor and Agriculture will work with rural stakeholders to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers and promote safer agricultural working practices.”  

Thank you for interest in Maryland Agriculture. 

Sincerely,

Buddy Hance 

Secretary  

Gov. O’Malley enjoying Maryland cuisine at a Buy Local Cookout

using Maryland ingredients from
Maryland sources to submit original recipes for the 5th Annual “Buy Local Cookout,” which will be held at Government House in Annapolis on July 19. Recipes must be submitted by a chef and include products from at least one Maryland farmer, waterman, or other producer. The cookout kick-offsevent Buy Local Challenge Week (July 21-29), during which all Marylanders are encouraged to eat at least one local product each day of the week. Recipe submissions are due May 21. For complete rules of entry and additional information

Featured in The Maryland Harvest are: Russ Shlagel, Al Spoler, Chef Spike Gjerde, Lisa Godfrey and Bill Caulk.

MDA celebrated the beginning of the spring planting season by hosting an advanced screening of The Maryland Harvest, an hour-long documentary that aired on Maryland Public Television during Chesapeake Bay Week. Local chefs and farmers featured in the documentary participated in a panel discussion immediately following the piece. Houpla, Inc., a Baltimore company, produced the documentary, which follows the growing season and chronicles several chef-farmer partnerships. For more information.