{"id":23102,"date":"2019-03-11T10:56:33","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T14:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=23102"},"modified":"2019-03-11T10:56:33","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T14:56:33","slug":"governor-hogan-announces-maryland-agriculture-week-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2019\/03\/11\/governor-hogan-announces-maryland-agriculture-week-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Hogan Announces Maryland Agriculture Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

10 Ways to Celebrate Maryland Agriculture<\/em><\/h3>\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 14 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 10-16 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\u2019s agricultural industry is an essential component of the fabric of our great state, and critical to our future economic success,\u201d said Governor Hogan. \u201cThis week is dedicated to promoting understanding about where our food and fiber come from, as well as the vital role this industry plays in our shared history, environment, and quality of life.”<\/p>\n

From poultry and beef, to corn and fresh produce, Maryland farmers are working harder than ever to meet the needs of American consumers and others around the world. New technology has allowed farmers to meet these demands more efficiently and environmentally friendly than ever before. Today, each American farmer feeds more than 165\u00a0people. Agriculture is the nation’s top export and vitally important in sustaining a healthy economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs our younger generations grow further and further away from the farm, it is important to make sure they remember where their food comes from,\u201d said Agriculture Secretary Joe Bartenfelder. \u201cWhile many people think food comes from the grocery store, Maryland Agriculture Week is a great opportunity to remind us all of the tremendous amount of work done by our farmers and producers to get their products to the shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Maryland, one-third of the land mass \u2013 over 2 million acres \u2013 is farmland. In 2018, 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 seventh 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 90 wineries that offer more than 500 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. Did we mention March is\u00a0Maryland Wine Month<\/a>?<\/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 nine 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\u00a0My Maryland Farmers<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about the important work our farmers do each day, or check out the\u00a0Maryland\u2019s Best YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel for a virtual tour.<\/li>\n
  8. Read a book about Maryland Agriculture.\u00a0<\/strong>Learn more about the\u00a02019 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>,\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).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For more in depth information about Maryland agriculture see the\u00a02018 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.<\/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 14 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 10-16 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,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23102","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=23102"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23105,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23102\/revisions\/23105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}