{"id":21104,"date":"2017-03-20T13:22:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T17:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=21104"},"modified":"2017-03-20T13:22:24","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T17:22:24","slug":"governor-hogan-announces-maryland-agriculture-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2017\/03\/20\/governor-hogan-announces-maryland-agriculture-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Hogan Announces Maryland Agriculture Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

10 ways to get involved with Maryland agriculture<\/em><\/h3>\n
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Photo credit: Edwin Remsberg<\/p><\/div>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD <\/strong>\u2013 Did you know that most of life\u2019s necessities \u2013 food, fiber, clothing and shelter \u2013 start with agriculture? March 21 is National Agriculture Day<\/a>, which recognizes and celebrates the contributions of agriculture to American society. To coincide with this national celebration, Governor Larry Hogan has declared March 19-25 as \u201cMaryland Agriculture Week.\u201d From the mountains of Western Maryland with its dairy farms and hay to Central Maryland with its greenhouse and livestock industries to the Eastern Shore\u2019s acres of corn and poultry \u2013 Maryland truly grows something for everyone.<\/p>\n

“Maryland’s vibrant agricultural industry\u00a0is a critical component of our state\u2019s economy, and our farmers go above and beyond to provide fresh, quality food that is accessible, affordable, and safe for our citizens,\u201d said Governor Hogan. \u201cI encourage all Marylanders to take a moment to recognize and celebrate our farmers and the essential role they have in our daily lives.”<\/p>\n

There are 2.1 million farms in the United States, a country with nearly 319 million people. Agriculture products remain the nation\u2019s top export. Each American farmer today feeds more than 155 people \u2013 a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s. American agriculture is doing more \u2013 and doing it better. As the world population soars, there is an even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the average person, it is sometimes easy to forget just how important agriculture is to their daily life,\u201d said Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder. \u201cMaryland Agriculture Week is the perfect occasion for all Marylanders to reflect on the important work that our farmers do each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Maryland, one-third of the land mass \u2013 over 2 million acres \u2013 is farmland. In 2015, the top commodity sectors were poultry (broilers), greenhouse and nursery, corn, and dairy. For more interesting facts about Maryland agriculture, see the\u00a0AgBrief<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Maryland Department of Agriculture shares 10 suggestions to help citizens recognize National and Maryland Agriculture Week:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Watch <\/strong>Maryland Farm and Harvest<\/strong><\/a> on <\/strong>Maryland Public Television<\/strong><\/a> or <\/strong>online<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>The hit series, now in production for a fifth season, puts a human face on farming by showcasing personal stories about farmers, their work with the land and resources, production of food and fiber for our society, challenges, hopes and dreams, and their future.<\/li>\n
  2. Take It from Maryland Farmers: <\/strong>Backyard Actions for a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> This helpful education campaign provides homeowners with information and tips from farmers that they can use to do their part to help improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The initiative offers a series of fact sheets that can be helpful.<\/li>\n
  3. Plan your garden and repair lawns with certified seeds. <\/strong>Check out the University of Maryland Extension\u2019s Grow it Eat it website<\/a>.\u00a0Spring is almost here and now is the time to plan for your gardens and lawns. Be sure to get a soil test before fertilizing and check out the University of Maryland Extension\u2019s\u00a0Grow it Eat it website<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  4. Visit a winery. <\/strong>Maryland has six wine trails<\/a> and 70 wineries that offer more than 400 different wines. Touring a winery or a vineyard in the countryside, tasting some of Maryland\u2019s fine wines, and enjoying the company of friends are wonderful ways to spend a springtime day. Maryland has seven\u00a0wine trails<\/a>\u00a0and 62 wineries that offer more than 400 different wines.<\/li>\n
  5. Ride a horse. <\/strong>Sixty percent of the horses in Maryland are used for recreational purposes while 40 percent are for racing. Visit one of 35 Horse Discovery Centers<\/a> or find a place to ride near you in MDA\u2019s guide to licensed horse stables<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Visit a creamery. <\/strong>Maryland has eight dairy farms that offer fresh, delicious on-farm ice cream. Together, they make up the\u00a0Maryland\u2019s Best Ice Cream Trail<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  7. Meet a Maryland Farmer. <\/strong>If you can\u2019t get to a real farm, you can visit many farms online by viewing the Maryland\u2019s Best YouTube channel.\u00a0Take a tour without leaving your living room<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  8. Read a book about Maryland Agriculture. <\/strong>Learn more about the 2017 Ag Literacy Campaign<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  9. Follow Maryland Agriculture (MdAgDept) on <\/strong>social media<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>The department is also on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Flickr<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>. You can also connect with Maryland\u2019s Best Agriculture on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  10. As products become in season, serve a meal with local food or pack a local lunch for your children. <\/strong>Ask your grocer for local products or visit\u00a0MarylandsBest.net<\/a>\u00a0to find out where you can buy local products near you. Maryland farmers grow and produce a wide variety of food including fruits, vegetables, bread, cheeses and meats for lunches and snacks that are available from farmers\u2019 markets, grocery stores, and community supported agriculture farms (CSAs).Find out what\u2019s in season<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For more in depth information about Maryland agriculture see the\u00a02016 Maryland Agricultural Overview<\/a>, compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service.<\/p>\n

    Find\u00a0fun facts\u00a0about agriculture and more information at the\u00a0National Ag Day<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

    \n# # #<\/p>\n

    Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter @MdAgDept<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    10 ways to get involved with Maryland agriculture ANNAPOLIS, MD \u2013 Did you know that most of life\u2019s necessities \u2013 food, fiber, clothing and shelter \u2013 start with agriculture? March 21 is National Agriculture Day, which recognizes and celebrates the contributions of agriculture to American society. To coincide with this national celebration, Governor Larry Hogan  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21104"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21105,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21104\/revisions\/21105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}