{"id":1791,"date":"2009-10-26T13:19:26","date_gmt":"2009-10-26T13:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2012-10-03T13:20:35","modified_gmt":"2012-10-03T13:20:35","slug":"october-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/mda-newsletter\/2009\/10\/26\/october-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"MarylandMaryland Department of Agriculture\u00a0News<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0 Celebrating Maryland\u00a0Agriculture<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nOctober 2009\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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In This Issue<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Frederick Capital for a Day<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MAFO\/CAFO Deadline Dec. 1<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Long Service Awards<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sudden Oak Death Detected<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New Ag Laws in Effect<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Regulatory Info Center <\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maryland Seafood Month<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maryland Green Registry<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Farm Energy Audits<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
People Profile<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Featured Recipe<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0Secretary’s Corner<\/div>\n

\"Earl<\/p>\n

My first order of business this month is to recognize our outstanding MDA employees. A couple of weeks ago, we recognized 68 people for 10 years or more of public service. We took time out that afternoon to show appreciation for the outstanding job that all of our employees do regardless of their tenure. I appreciate their work and\u00a0know that the Marylanders we serve do as well.<\/div>\n
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There are two major undertakings at MDA that stand out for the increased workload\u00a0 and the impact on the agricultural community they are causing. First is the consolidation of the Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratories<\/span><\/a>. I am pleased to report that due to a remarkable effort by the Animal Health staff and the understanding of our customers, both the Frederick and Salisbury labs are almost 100 percent operational with expanded staffing and services. Over the past month, they have managed to maintain the full range of services while closing down three facilities, moving equipment, learning new processes and obtaining new laboratory certifications.<\/div>\n
The second, longer- term activity is related to Chesapeake Bay restoration. In addition to the BayStat<\/span><\/a> data tracking initiated by Governor Martin O’Malley to bring increased accountability and transparency to all Bay restoration activities, MDA staff is actively engaged in responding to and developing processes\u00a0needed to\u00a0meet the initiatives growing out of President Barack Obama’s Chesapeake Bay Executive Order<\/span><\/a>. There is new legislation being presented that needs to be reviewed to see that agricultural and Bay needs are both met. There is a lot going on with animal feeding operation regulations (see MAFO\/CAFO story), Bay modeling, and dramatic shifts in MDA data collection, program reporting, and new program development such as nutrient trading<\/span><\/a>.<\/div>\n
In regards to Bay restoration, we need your help to account for EVERYTHING that you are doing to help the environment on your farms. To date, we are only able to account for activities such as cover crops and other best management practices that use government programs. We know there is a lot more being done privately but have no way to capture it. It is very, very important that farm operators and landowners tell us what BMPs they have done on their own so that the “agriculture sector” gets credit for all of its nutrient reduction accomplishments. We will be surveying for this information soon. We are counting on you to respond.<\/div>\n
Farmers are true stewards of the land and some of the strongest conservationists. We in Maryland set a shining example of what can be done in other places. We are working to show those who are in charge of implementing the Bay Executive Order that this is true and to improve collaboration among the Bay states and the federal government.<\/div>\n
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Maryland believes that the playing field should be level and that other states and the federal government should match our nutrient reduction accomplishments from the agricultural, stormwater, waste water treatment and septic system sources. Maryland is setting a smart, green and growing example for all to follow.<\/p>\n

Thank you. I\u00a0wish you all the\u00a0best,<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Buddy Hance, <\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

MDA Secretary<\/span><\/div>\n

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Quick Links<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
More About MDA <\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
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BayStat <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Sign Up for Governor O’Malley’s E-Newsletter<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\"Gov.Gov. Names Frederick State Capital for a Day <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
As part of Governor Martin O’Malley’s Capital for a Day<\/span><\/a> in Frederick on Sept. 23, Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance toured the agency’s Frederick Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory to see first-hand how the transition of staff and equipment from the College Park, Oakland, and Centreville facilities was progressing. He later joined Governor O’Malley at the Great Frederick Fair for a luncheon sponsored by the Fair Board and for a meeting with dairy farmers and\u00a0 representatives\u00a0to discuss the crisis in their industry.\u00a0 Secretary Hance ended the day by presenting Governor O’Malley with a bottle of Frederick County’s Black Ankle Vineyards’ 2007 Crumbling Rock red wine, which won the Maryland Wineries Association Best in Show Governor’s Cup award for 2009. Click here<\/span><\/a> for more details.<\/div>\n
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Photo: Governor O’Malley meeting with Maryland dairy farmers and Agriculture Secretary Hance\u00a0to discuss the crisis in their industry. (Courtesy Governor O’Malley’s Office)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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New MAFO\/CAFO Permit in Effect Dec. 1
\nPermit allows farmers to move ahead with new operations
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>The Maryland Department of Environment will issue a general discharge permit, effective Dec. 1, 2009, for Maryland Animal Feeding Operations (MAFOs) and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). The permit requires\u00a0additional measures to control nutrient discharges from Maryland’s largest agricultural animal operations to\u00a0further protect the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.<\/span>A legal challenge by an environmental organization delayed the permit since January. MDE recently issued a final decision affirming the findings of the Office of Administrative Hearings’ proposed decision to uphold the permit. While that decision\u00a0was appealed, the appeal does not stay the permit implementation.<\/p>\n
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MDA\u00a0looks forward\u00a0to a resolution soon so farmers\u00a0can move forward with new construction of livestock and poultry facilities.\u00a0MDA has tracked the permit closely to ensure the permit is as manageable and affordable as possible for poultry and livestock farmers while further safeguarding water quality.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for more details.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\"MDAMDA Honors Long Service Employees
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On Oct. 6, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) honored 68 employees for their years of service dedicated to the department. Harwood Owings, III, received special recognition for 40 outstanding years of public service to MDA. Four employees were honored for their 35 years of service; nine for 30 years of service, and eight for 25 years of service.\u00a0 The remaining honorees were recognized for public service of 10, 15, or 20 years.\u00a0Click here<\/a> for more.<\/div>\n
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(L to R): Warren Bontoyan, Mary Ellen Setting, Harwood Owings, III, Secretary Buddy Hance)<\/em><\/div>\n

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Sudden Oak Death-Infected Plants Potentially Shipped to Maryland Homeowners <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Contact UMD Home and Garden Information Center\u00a0for\u00a0Testing<\/em><\/div>\n

Maryland residents may have received nursery plants infected with the fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora ramorum<\/em>, which causes the disease sudden oak death.\u00a0 This disease affects plants, trees and other shrubbery, but poses no threat to people.<\/p>\n

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“USDA notified the Department that nursery stock potentially infected with P. ramorum<\/em> had been shipped to Maryland from a nursery stock producer in Oregon,” said Secretary Buddy Hance.\u00a0 “The discovery of sudden oak death on nursery stock is not cause for panic. MDA plant inspectors have been in contact with those who received these plants to inspect and test suspect material from the Oregon nursery. We encourage everyone to report suspicious plants – especially if they were purchased from the West Coast.”<\/div>\n
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MDA, in cooperation with the University of Maryland Extension, is offering free testing to home gardeners who question if plants they have purchased are affected by P. ramorum<\/em>.\u00a0 For free testing, gardeners must first contact the Maryland Home and Garden Information Center, either online at www.hgic.umd.edu\/content\/suddenoakdeath.cfm<\/a> or by calling 800-342-2507. The disease attacks more than 30 types of plants, and causes a range of symptoms including leaf spots, cankers, dieback and death on certain types of nursery plants. Some plants can serve as disease carriers, spreading P. ramorum<\/em> into natural areas where it can infect and kill trees, including oaks. Information is also available by logging onto www.mda.state.md.us <\/a>under “Hot Topics.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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New Agriculture Laws In\u00a0Effect
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Eight new agriculture laws go into effect October 1 in Maryland.\u00a0 The laws address agricultural land preservation, organic farming, veterinary, turf grass and tobacco authority issues.\u00a0Click here<\/a> to learn more.\u00a0\u00a0A more detailed description of each new law is available online.<\/a><\/div>\n

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MDA Launches Online Regulatory Information Center
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MDA launched an new webpage\u00a0to\u00a0provide additional transparency for the department’s enforcement actions. MDA’s Regulatory Information Center<\/a> is designed to provide information to the public about enforcement actions the department takes and the process MDA follows in response to violations of state laws or regulations. This information includes administrative, civil and criminal enforcement actions. MDA will continue to announce departmental enforcement actions on an ongoing basis through press releases and updates on the new webpage dedicated to regulatory activity.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"VarietyOctober is Maryland Seafood Month<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
Are you ready for local, sweet, fat crabs, succulent oysters and tender, flaky rockfish?\u00a0 Autumn is the perfect time for Maryland seafood! Governor Martin O’Malley is promoting October as “Maryland Seafood Month<\/a>,” to celebrate Maryland’s delicious and desirable seafood.<\/div>\n
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In\u00a0a new initiative,\u00a0Maryland seafood is available\u00a0on foodtrader.org, an e-marketplace for Maryland food products. Those with seafood to sell can list it on foodtrader.org and those who wish to buy directly from\u00a0a waterman or aqua-farmer can do so.\u00a0 Log onto www.foodtrader.org<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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Click here<\/a> for recipes and\u00a0more information about Maryland seafood.<\/div>\n

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\"twoCalling All Farmers:\u00a0 Join the Maryland Green Registry!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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It has been said that farmers are the first environmentalists.\u00a0 Maryland farmers are national leaders in installing innovative conservation practices on their farms.\u00a0 Join the Maryland Green Registry\u00a0to tout your accomplishments and\u00a0your commitment to a strong, proactive approach to environmental management.<\/p>\n

The Maryland Green Registry is a voluntary, self-certification program offering tips and resources to help organizations set and meet their own goals on the path to sustainability..\u00a0 Learn more at the Maryland Green Registry website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"two Md. Farmers Can Save with Energy Audits <\/strong><\/span><\/span>
\nThe Maryland Statewide Farm Energy Audit Program is a great money saving opportunity for all agricultural producers in Maryland. \u00a0This program\u00a0can help farmers reduce their energy costs through farm energy audits and equipment incentives for qualifying energy saving projects.\u00a0 The program offers incentives for equipment such as energy efficient lighting, heating, refrigeration, ventilation, motors, and more.\u00a0 Farmers who qualify to receive a farm energy audit through this program will pay $300 – 25% of the normal auditing fee.\u00a0 This cost is fully refunded if they install any of the equipment recommended in their audit reports.<\/span><\/span>Click here<\/a> to learn more. Interested producers can also contact Corey Conant, EnSave’s Program Manager, at (800) 732-1399 or coreyc@ensave.com<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\"MDAPeople Profile: S. Patrick McMillan <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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The name of the MDA unit that Pat McMillan oversees as Assistant Secretary –\u00a0 Marketing, Animal Industries and Consumer Services –\u00a0 only begins to describe the diversity of the programs under his purview.\u00a0 It also does no justice to the depth of knowledge that Pat has gained in his 23 years at the Maryland Department of Agriculture. As he says, he is “a student of statistics and a passionate advocate for agriculture and the people involved in the field that is the foundation of modern society.” He has translated these interests and his thirst for knowledge into a career that has served agriculture and the MDA well.<\/p>\n

Pat hails from Virginia’s rural New River Valley in Southwest Virginia where his family had a hay and cattle operation.\u00a0 He studied horticulture and agricultural economics at Virginia Tech University before working for three years on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and serving two years as a Peace Corps volunteer on the West Indian island of Montserrat where he helped small farmers with the establishment of tropical fruit orchards. He began working for MDA in 1986 as an Agricultural Marketing Specialist.\u00a0 Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, he was the agency’s director of Intergovernmental Relations.<\/p>\n

Many of his early years at MDA were devoted to direct farm marketing projects including organizing community farmers markets and developing the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program in Maryland. His experiences at MDA building up direct marketing programs and in the legislative office shepherding such industry-changing initiatives as the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact, have given him a broad knowledge of the agricultural industry and the agency. From this knowledge he feels he has developed the ability to identify and pursue opportunities for the industry.<\/p>\n

One of his many policy passions for which he has become the “go-to guy” is renewable fuel.\u00a0 Renewable energy,\u00a0he believes, \u00a0is a nexus for the nation’s need for alternative fuels, the farmer’s need for alternative markets, and the pressure for Maryland agriculture to find new uses for excess manure that will help improve Chesapeake Bay water quality. Pat says, “The success of agriculture in Maryland is based on a strong animal agriculture industry. Animal production is a ‘value added’ enterprise whereby we convert feed crops to animal products and benefit from the associated ancillary businesses.\u00a0 The biggest opportunity moving into the future is technology that might provide better ways to manage animal manure. \u00a0For grain farmers, the ethanol industry has created an enormous new market and helped improve depressed commodity prices.”<\/p>\n

Pat notes that he has been at MDA almost half his life.\u00a0 “I’ve had a great career here. I’ve been very fortunate to have so much trust bestowed on me and so many opportunities to work with constituents.\u00a0 I’ve never done anything without lots of help.”\u00a0 From the beginning, Pat says, “I was given a lot of latitude, freedom and support to do substantive programs.\u00a0 I want my staff to have that same latitude to take the initiative to help develop new opportunities for our ‘constituents.'”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"ButternutFeatured Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
There are more than two dozen common varieties of winter squash<\/a>.\u00a0They are called winter squash because when stored properly, they will last a long time and are a staple of our winter diet.\u00a0 Click here<\/a> for winter squash tips.<\/div>\n
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INGREDIENTS:<\/div>\n
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
\n1 2-pound butternut squash, halved lengthwise, seeded<\/div>\n
2 cups (about) canned low-salt chicken broth
\nPinch of grated nutmeg
\n1 cup nonfat milk
\nNonfat sour cream (optional)
\nChopped fresh chives or green onions (optional)<\/div>\n
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Preheat oven to 375\u00b0F. Spray 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Place squash cut side down in prepared dish. Pierce each squash half several times with toothpick or skewer. Bake until squash is tender, about 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

Using large spoon, scrape squash into processor; discard peel. Add 1 1\/2 cups broth and nutmeg and puree until smooth. Transfer puree to heavy large saucepan. Mix in milk and enough broth to thin to desired consistency. Stir soup over medium heat until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with dollop of sour cream and chives, if desired.<\/p>\n

Serves 4.
\nBon App\u00e9tit, January 1996<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Photo: Allrecipes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Upcoming Events<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n