Agriculture

If the state Senate confirms his appointment tomorrow, Maryland's new agriculture secretary will bring to the job the experience of running a family farm that traces its roots back before the Revolutionary War. "I've been a lifelong farmer; my father, my grandfather and my great-grandfather were farmers," Roger L. Richardson said in one of his first interviews since Gov. Martin O'Malley named him to the post. "We still farm the 60 acres that came into our family in 1767." It is his knowledge and understanding of agriculture, stemming from such a long tradition, along with a love of farming, that the 72-year-old Richardson lists as the major attributes he brings to his new job. His aim, he said, "is to continue the successful initiatives" of his predecessor, Lewis R. Riley, who served as agriculture secretary under three governors before resigning this month.

Boniface vows to find common ground on development rights In his first legislative address before the County Council on Tuesday night, council President Billy Boniface will call for reform of the county's rules for transferring development rights, a hot topic among the county's agriculture community. Previous efforts have made little headway, but Boniface vowed last week to find common ground. Critics have said the county's regulations fall far short of designing a comprehensive program that would help guide development countywide, not just in farming areas.

Good morning -- Bart Scott -- In the line of Pro Bowl succession, are you sort of like the secretary of agriculture?

Farmers, environmentalists and the public will get their chance starting next week to voice their opinions on the proposed regulations stemming from one of the hotly debated pieces of legislation in the 1998 General Assembly -- the so-called "Pfiesteria bill."After nearly a year of work, the Maryland Department of Agriculture has released a draft of nutrient-management regulations developed to implement the requirements of the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1988.The department has scheduled six regional meetings over a 16-day period to collect public opinion on the regulations.

CHICAGO -- The U.S. Agriculture Department will consider buying more pork and quit lending money to expand hog production as the agency seeks more ways to lift hog prices that are near 57-year lows.Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said yesterday that his agency also is encouraging meatpackers to set a minimum price they will pay for hogs to prevent further price deterioration, and he encouraged bankers to be flexible with loan repayments by hog producers."We are moving as quickly as we can, exploring every option we may have under the law, to help producers get through this very difficult time," Glickman told farm broadcasters at a news conference.

Maryland farmers, who suffered through a devastating drought last year, enter the new one with a number of dark clouds on the horizon."Farmers face a great deal of uncertainty in 1998," said Henry A. Virts, who took over as state Agriculture Secretary on Jan. 1.Dairy farmers will continue their struggle to survive. Grain prices are expected to decline. Southern Maryland tobacco growers will remain under attack by anti-smoking forces. And farm equipment sales are expected to be flat this year.

Maryland's congressional delegation has gotten involved in the state's efforts to get money from Washington to help farmers in drought-ridden areas with disaster aid.Democratic Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara A. Mikulski sent letters yesterday to President Clinton and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, encouraging them to act favorably on a request this week from Gov. Parris N. Glendening for money to help dairy and livestock farmers buy emergency feed.The senators said the severity of this summer's drought, along with low milk prices, may force up to 10 percent of the state's dairy farmers out of business.

Agriculture is like no other business.Farmers can work hard, make the right decisions and still end the year a step closer to the poorhouse if nature doesn't cooperate.So, to ask farmers and others in the industry what lies ahead for them this year is like asking someone to predict the winner and the total points scored in next week's Super Bowl."I'm always optimistic," said state Agriculture Secretary Lewis R. Riley. "You have to be optimistic if you're into farming. 1996 was a good year, a very good year, for agriculture in Maryland, and we could be in for another good year.

A Bethesda company, with a helping hand from the University of Maryland, is out to change the agricultural policies of Egypt -- taking it from a socialized system controlled by the government to a free market economy.Development Alternatives Inc., an international consulting firm, has been awarded a $10 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to increase production, productivity and incomes in the Egyptian agricultural sector through the removal of policy barriers to private enterprise.

At a time when food prices are posting their sharpest gains in six years -- due in part to a sharp rise in exports -- Maryland officials have scheduled a conference aimed at helping state farmers and food processors boost their sales overseas.There are a few red faces over the timing of the session, but state and federal agriculture officials say exports are vital to the economic health of the nation and benefit Maryland farmers and food processors.Errol Small, director of marketing at the state Department of Agriculture, laughed yesterday and admitted that he was in a tough position in trying to explain why the state was encouraging more exports when foreign sales are already contributing to higher prices that consumers pay for such things as milk, bread, bacon, chicken and butter at the store.

Baltimore County will build a $9 million agriculture center in Hunt Valley that will offer office and meeting space as well as classrooms, greenhouses and demonstration fields for groups now spread throughout the area. Officials said the Baltimore County Center for Maryland Agriculture, located on a 149-acre property just west of Interstate 83 on Shawan Road, will extend the county's commitment to farming. The county purchased the land from the Tillman family, which had operated a horse farm and boarding business there.

For 15 months, starting in the spring of 2005, members of the Maryland Agricultural Commission met with more than 600 farmers around the state to learn how the state could help them be more profitable and stay in business. They heard from dairy farmers who said low milk prices were forcing state dairymen out of business at twice the rate of the national average. They heard from grain farmers who said the Maryland Cooperative Extension needed to get back to its roots and help them with production problems.

As more city folks move to Maryland's countryside to build their dream homes on spacious lots next to picturesque farms, there are bound to be conflicts. It's nice to look out the kitchen window and take in a view of dairy cows grazing on rolling fields of grass, but it's not so much fun for newcomers to the rural countryside when the smell of manure floats through the air. Relations between farmers and their neighbors can also be strained when farmers spray their fields with pesticides or plow their fields in the early morning.

Would the gentleman with the property on Joppa Road near the Baltimore Beltway please get back in touch? You called a couple of weeks ago - something about turning your sprawling property back into farmland - and I know people who would be interested in talking to you. You might be, literally, on the edge of an important new trend. It's called "urban edge agriculture," and some in farming believe it's the next big thing. (Note: These are not the same people who predicted that emu ranching would be the next big thing.

The sight of a wooden table full of plump peaches, shiny red cherries and mounds of ripe blueberries at Harbin's farm stand in Ellicott City on Monday makes Kathy Zimmerman's efforts to turn people on to local produce seem easy. In fact, farmers are reporting increased traffic at farm stands, pick-your-own operations and farmers' markets this season, and organizations across the state are promoting a "Buy Local Challenge" this week to encourage the purchase of fresh, local food. But Zimmerman's role as the Howard County Economic Development Authority's agriculture marketing specialist still holds plenty of challenges as she helps farmers reach customers amid rapidly growing suburbs.

For farmers, it just might be the best thing since the tractor replaced the horse-drawn plow. Imagine, with just a couple of clicks on their computers, farmers can tap into a new online marketplace set up just for them. The Maryland Agricultural Exchange was created to help farmers in the state and throughout the Chesapeake Bay region to buy, sell, trade and give away a wide variety of items, including a hay wagon, manure, vegetables and livestock. It's the brainchild of the people at the University of Maryland's Environmental Finance Center in College Park, who say it's the first in the state and may be unique to the nation.

For farmers, it just might be the best thing since the tractor replaced the horse-drawn plow. Imagine, with just a couple of clicks on their computers, farmers can tap into a new online marketplace set up just for them. The Maryland Agricultural Exchange was created to help farmers in the state and throughout the Chesapeake Bay region to buy, sell, trade and give away a wide variety of items, including a hay wagon, manure, vegetables and livestock. It's the brainchild of the people at the University of Maryland's Environmental Finance Center in College Park who say it's the first in the state and may be unique to the nation.

If given a choice, the vast majority of Maryland consumers - 76 percent - say they are more likely to buy produce that is identified as having been grown by a state farmer. That's one of the findings in a survey earlier this year by the University of Baltimore's Schaefer Center for Public Policy, and farmers are eager to accommodate the consumers' wishes. There will be 83 farmers' markets opening this year, according to the state Department of Agriculture. This is six more than last year.

It's a standoff between fuel, foreign trade and American stomachs. The government predicted yesterday an unprecedented jump in the export of agricultural goods, while demand for corn-based ethanol continues to push prices for soybean and wheat to new records. The rising cost of food has bakers marching on Washington, and has shaped the Democratic presidential primaries' debate about international trade and provoked questions about whether America can continue to be the world's breadbasket.

USDA to conduct census of farms Maryland farmers can help shape the future of agriculture by responding to the 2007 Census of Agriculture report form, scheduled to arrive by mail in early January. Conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture every five years, the census is a count of the nation's farms and the people who operate them. It looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures, and other topics. The census provides the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every county in the nation.