MPT Series Maryland Farm & Harvest Visits Baltimore, Harford, and Worcester Counties During Feb. 16 Episode

Photo Description: Karen Vaughan of Dairy Crisis Farm tends to one of the calves at her Harford County farm. Photo Credit: Maryland Public Television’s Maryland Farm & Harvest.

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) popular original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, now in its eighth season, will feature farms and locations in Baltimore, Harford, and Worcester counties during a new episode airing on Tuesday, February 16 at 7 p.m.

Maryland Farm & Harvest has been taking viewers on journeys across the state since 2013, telling hundreds of stories about the farms, people, and technology required to sustain and grow agriculture in Maryland, the state’s number one commercial industry. 

This season the series has added two new segments. “The Way it Works” segment offers a look at the mechanical side of agriculture and the “Facebook Photo Challenge” features photos on a variety of topics submitted online by Maryland farmers. 

Maryland Farm & Harvest’s February 16 episode features the following segments:

• History and Secrets at Inverness Farm Brewing (Baltimore County). Tucked away in Monkton is Inverness Farm, a beautiful 98-acre property full of history and a few secrets. The farm, owned by Ray and Sandy Frank, is home to Inverness Brewing, a crop-to-keg brewery that uses hops grown on the property. In the past, the farm was once the summer home for movie star Clark Gable, and at one point it housed a famous horse and even top-secret CIA training camp. Sandy shows viewers around this historic property and shares stories from its past and present.
  
  
• Visiting a Maryland Tree Farm (Worcester County). While some crops grow quickly, others can take decades before they’re ready for harvest. At Just Ordinary Woodland in Snow Hill, viewers learn about the patience it takes to run a tree farm. During this segment, workers “thin” an area of the farm by strategically cutting down trees so others have more room to grow. Owner Bobby Shockley and forester Tony DiPaolo talk about the importance of woodland management, the Maryland Tree Farm Program, and the environmental benefits that come with sustainable forestry. 
  
  
• The Way it Works: Cattle Breeds: Not all cows are created equal. MPT’s Joe Ligo notes that Maryland is home to more than 170,000 cattle and explains the differences and advantages of the four most popular cattle breeds in the state. 
  
  
• The Local Buy: Profile of a Dairy Farm (Harford County). Segment host Al Spoler heads to Daily Crisis Farm in White Hall, where a herd of healthy dairy cows is raised on the 250-acre farm. Here the Vaughan family comes together to manage the daily chores with the help of their grandchildren. Dan and Karen Vaughan take pride in the milk they produce and their customers look forward to the cheese, butter, and eggs they sell. After tasting the variety of cheese flavors, Al notes that a recipe for Daily Crisis Farm’s pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, along with information about the farm’s cheese and butter will be available at mpt.org/farm.

New episodes of Maryland Farm & Harvest air on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and are live-streamed on MPT’s website. Encore broadcasts are available on MPT-HD Thursdays at 11 p.m. and Sundays at 6 a.m. Each episode also airs on MPT2/Create® on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

All past episodes can be viewed at MPT’s website. Specific segments can be found on Maryland Farm & Harvest’s YouTube channel.

Series host Joanne Clendining, who recently earned her second Emmy® award from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her work on Maryland Farm & Harvest, returns for season eight. She is joined by Al Spoler who handles duties for each episode’s The Local Buy segment. 

Ten million viewers have tuned in to Maryland Farm & Harvest since its 2013 debut. The series has taken MPT viewers to more than 400 farms, fisheries, and other agriculture-related locations, covering every Maryland county, as well as Baltimore City and Washington, D.C. 

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, Maryland Agricultural Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO), MidAtlantic Farm Credit, Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF), Maryland Soybean Board, Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts, Wegmans Food Markets, Maryland Nursery, Landscape & Greenhouse Association, Seafood Marketing Advisory Commission, Maryland Farm Bureau, and The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

Other support comes from the Mar-Del Watermelon Association, Eddie Mercer Agri-Services, Inc., and the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation (MAEF).

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Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter @MdAgDept