{"id":27085,"date":"2023-02-03T09:22:08","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T14:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=27085"},"modified":"2023-02-03T16:23:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T21:23:55","slug":"governor-wes-moore-inducts-farm-family-into-governors-agriculture-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2023\/02\/03\/governor-wes-moore-inducts-farm-family-into-governors-agriculture-hall-of-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Wes Moore Inducts Farm Family into Governor\u2019s Agriculture Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"May<\/p>\n

Carroll County Family Receives State\u2019s Most Prestigious Agriculture Award<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD (Feb. 3, 2023)<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 <\/span>Governor Wes Moore and Agriculture Acting Secretary Kevin Atticks celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the Taste of Maryland Agriculture event by inducting the Fritz family of Carroll County into the Governor\u2019s Agriculture Hall of Fame.<\/span> Members of the Fritz family <\/span>accepted the award in front of more than 700 agricultural leaders and legislators from across the state at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate that agriculture is Maryland\u2019s top industry with its economic impact of nearly $20 billion dollars and I applaud our farmers for their contribution to our economy, as well as our heritage, and our health,\u201d said Governor Moore. \u201cCongratulations to the Fritz family and congratulations to the Maryland Agriculture Council on over 50 years of hosting this event.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sponsored by the Maryland Department of Agriculture, the Governor\u2019s Agriculture Hall of Fame was created in 1991 by then Governor William Donald Schaefer to honor agricultural leaders who exemplify high standards of achievement and commitment to the industry and their communities. Nominations are accepted at local University of Maryland Extension offices.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to be here with Governor Moore and the agricultural community tonight as we celebrate the Fritz family,\u201d said Acting Secretary Atticks. \u201cThis family is exceptional in their legacy of leadership and commitment to using conservation practices successfully for decades. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition and thank you for all you have done for Maryland agriculture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Fritz family is the 55th inductee in the Governor\u2019s Agriculture Hall of Fame. More information on each hall of fame family is available on the department\u2019s <\/span>website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

About the Fritz Family<\/b><\/p>\n

In 1912, Charles and Carrie Fritz purchased 90 acres of farmland and a large farmhouse in the beautiful Wakefield Valley, just outside of New Windsor in Carroll County. It was a dream for the couple, who had been tenant farmers for years. Six generations and 110 years later, the same farmhouse remains a homebase for their descendants. The current owners of the farm operation, which is now 480 acres in size, is the Fritz Family, LLC. The LLC members are Daniel Fritz and his two grown children, Jeffrey and Jessica.\u00a0 Jeffrey and his wife Diana have three daughters – Emily, Ella and Addison. Jessica and her husband Jeff have two sons – Sawyer and Cooper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, the family has seen good times and bad, scarcity and abundance. Through it all, the family\u2019s passion for farming has never waned. The farm was a dairy farm for 104 years and it was still profitable in 2016 when the decision was made to stop the milking operation. The workload of milking cows and the drop in milk prices contributed to the decision. Today, the farm has a small beef operation, but is mainly a crop farm that grows wheat, barley, soybeans, corn, hay and straw. Currently, the farm is 100 percent no till and has been for over 15 years. The family manages the fields using a software application and uses Global Positioning System (GPS) for accurate applications of chemicals and fertilizers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Fritz family has always been involved in community and agricultural organizations. Daniel\u2019s brother George was a member of the Carroll County Agriculture Center and the Carroll County Soil Conservation Board, as well as the Southern States Board of Directors. Daniel was a leader for the following organizations: the Carroll County Holstein Club, the Carroll County Farm Bureau, and the Dairy Herd Improvement Association. Daniel and Jeffrey are involved with the New Windsor Volunteer Fire Department, as well. And the youngest generation are in Carroll County 4 -H, where they exhibit cows, swine, and lambs.<\/span><\/p>\n

A short video and biography of the Fritz family will be made available online<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A complete list of Hall of Fame honorees is available <\/span>online<\/span><\/a>, as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Photos will be made available on the department\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Flickr<\/span><\/a>\u00a0following the Taste of Maryland Agriculture event.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter\u00a0<\/span>@MdAgDept<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Quote from the Nominator<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than 110 years, six generations of the Fritz Family have been cornerstones in Carroll County agriculture. They\u2019ve devoted countless hours to agriculture advocacy, donating their time to Extension, Farm Bureau, 4-H, various dairy organizations, and other agriculture related organizations all while maintaining an innovative, fiscally responsible, sustainable, and environmentally sound family farm. Formerly a dairy farm and currently primarily a crop farm, they work closely with Extension, the Soil Conservation District and NRCS. They participate in the Conservation Stewardship Program and Cover Crop Programs and have been 100 percent no till for over 15 years, beginning with true horse drawn power to today managing crops with GPS and drone technology. We are very honored that the Fritz Family represents Carroll County and to have them inducted into the Governor\u2019s Agriculture Hall of Fame\u201d \u2013 Bryan Butler, Principal Agent Agriculture and Food Systems Carroll County Extension<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carroll County Family Receives State\u2019s Most Prestigious Agriculture Award ANNAPOLIS, MD (Feb. 3, 2023)\u00a0\u2013 Governor Wes Moore and Agriculture Acting Secretary Kevin Atticks celebrated the 53rd anniversary of the Taste of Maryland Agriculture event by inducting the Fritz family of Carroll County into the Governor\u2019s Agriculture Hall of Fame. Members of the Fritz family accepted  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"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-27085","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\/27085","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\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27085"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27096,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27085\/revisions\/27096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}