{"id":22047,"date":"2018-03-16T11:45:13","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T15:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=22047"},"modified":"2018-03-16T11:45:13","modified_gmt":"2018-03-16T15:45:13","slug":"governor-hogan-announces-maryland-agriculture-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2018\/03\/16\/governor-hogan-announces-maryland-agriculture-week-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Hogan Announces Maryland Agriculture Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

10 Ways to Celebrate Maryland Agriculture<\/em><\/h3>\n
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Credit: Edwin Remsberg<\/p><\/div>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Did you know that most of life\u2019s necessities \u2013 food, fiber, clothing and shelter \u2013 start with agriculture? March 20 is\u00a0National Agriculture Day<\/a>, which recognizes the contributions of agriculture to American society. To coincide with this national celebration, Governor Larry Hogan has declared March 18-24 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

\u201cMaryland is incredibly fortunate to be home to a rich and diverse agriculture industry,\u201d said Governor Hogan. \u201cI am proud to recognize and celebrate this week with our hardworking farmers and producers, who continue to show their commitment to this vital industry, their communities, and our statewide efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are 2.1 million farms in the United States, a country with nearly 326 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

\u201cAgriculture is a critically important part of our everyday lives that is often overlooked,\u201d said Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder. \u201cMaryland Agriculture Week is a great opportunity to recognize our farm families who provide fresh, nutritious food across the state and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Maryland, one-third of the land mass \u2013 over 2 million acres \u2013 is farmland. In 2017, the top commodity sectors were poultry (broilers), grain, greenhouse and nursery, 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\u00a0<\/strong>Maryland Farm and Harvest<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/strong>Maryland Public Television<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/strong>online<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>The hit series, now in production for a sixth 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:\u00a0<\/strong>Backyard Actions for a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0This 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.\u00a0<\/strong>Spring 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.\u00a0<\/strong>Maryland has ten\u00a0wine trails<\/a>\u00a0and 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.<\/li>\n
  5. Ride a horse.\u00a0<\/strong>Sixty percent of the horses in Maryland are used for recreational purposes, while 40 percent are for racing. Visit one of 35\u00a0Horse Discovery Centers<\/a>\u00a0or find a place to ride near you in MDA\u2019s guide to\u00a0licensed horse stables<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  6. Visit a creamery.\u00a0<\/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.\u00a0<\/strong>If you can\u2019t get to a real farm, visit the\u00a0Maryland\u2019s Best YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel for a virtual tour, or check out\u00a0My Maryland Farmers<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  8. Read a book about Maryland Agriculture.\u00a0<\/strong>Learn more about the\u00a02018 Ag Literacy Campaign<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  9. Follow Maryland Agriculture (MdAgDept) on\u00a0<\/strong>social media<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>The department is also on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0Flickr<\/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.\u00a0<\/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).\u00a0Find out what\u2019s in season<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For more in depth information about Maryland agriculture see the\u00a02017 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>\u00a0website.\n<\/p>\n

    # # #<\/p>\n

    Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter\u00a0@MdAgDept<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    10 Ways to Celebrate Maryland Agriculture ANNAPOLIS, MD\u00a0\u2013 Did you know that most of life\u2019s necessities \u2013 food, fiber, clothing and shelter \u2013 start with agriculture? March 20 is\u00a0National Agriculture Day, which recognizes the contributions of agriculture to American society. To coincide with this national celebration, Governor Larry Hogan has declared March 18-24 as \u201cMaryland  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-22047","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\/22047","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=22047"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22050,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22047\/revisions\/22050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}