Growers

Inside Westminster Abbey, eight 20-foot-tall live trees lined the center aisle during the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. The trees transformed the space, doing what even the most elaborate floral arrangement could not — providing a natural, living sense of permanence and an air of drama. The move was unexpected, unpretentious and bold. A potted tree on your patio or deck can have the same effect. While not every tree is well-suited for a container, there are a surprising number of options, ranging from crape myrtles to hollies.

A Harford County farmer has been honored as a state winner in the 2012 National Corn Yield Contest, sponsored annually by the National Corn Growers Association. Harrison Rigdon, of Jarrettsville, placed first in the state in the A No-Till/Strip Till Non-Irrigated Class with a yield of 268.9818 bushels per acre. The hybrid used in the winning field was Pioneer P1395XR. Rigdon was one of 421 state winners nationwide. The 2012 contest had 8,263 entries from 46 states. Of the state winners, 18 growers - three from each of six classes - were named national winners, representing 13 states.

BROWN SUMMIT, N.C. -- Roy Cook cranked up the John Deere high-cycle tobacco sprayer, listening closely for any skips in the loud rumbling engine.The 42-year-old farmer hopes to fetch top dollar for the green-and-yellow rig in the recent farm equipment auction, a first-time event for the Guilford County Farmers Club and a signal of the uncertainty facing tobacco growers."

Albert H. Ford, a retired Bendix Field Engineering Corp. executive who was a noted Maryland rosarian, died Jan. 3 of pneumonia at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 90. The son of a newspaperman and a homemaker, Albert Henry Ford was born in Atlanta and raised in Norfolk, Va., where he graduated in 1940 from Maury High School. He briefly attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk before enlisting in the Navy during World War II, where he completed flight school at the naval air station in Pensacola, Fla. Mr. Ford spent the war years as a flight instructor at various stateside naval air stations and was discharged in 1945.

One thing is sure: Hank Thornes is high on Perdue. Fresh from one of the best years he's had, the 66-year-old Stockton farmer sounds like he did a decade ago, when he and his wife, Faye, were named the Salisbury company's top growers on the Delmarva Peninsula. That's when a smiling Hank Thornes appeared in ads in such publications as the Salisbury Daily Times, under the headline: "This Is Where the Real Good Money Is. " Eleven years later, the Thorneses believe it still is -- even though the newest of their five chicken houses is 20 years old. They are happy with their company, happy with chickens.

Local melon growers and retailers are trying to reassure consumers after listeria linked to cantaloupe from a Colorado farm killed 13 people across the country, including one in Maryland — the deadliest foodborne outbreak in more than a decade. While federal public health officials have warned of the potential for more deaths, state officials are reaching out to retailers to ensure they're aware of the recall, and the produce industry is working to contain the crisis. Meanwhile, some consumers are putting off cantaloupe purchases.

FRESNO, Calif. -- In 1988, the Salinas-based Nunes Co. Inc. heard rumblings that organic produce could go mainstream. That spring, it began converting its iceberg lettuce to organic.But last March -- three years later -- the 9,000-acre corporation quit growing organic and went back to using man-made fertilizers and pesticides.The company was just losing too much production and too much money, said David Nunes, vice president, even on the 4 percent of its acreage devoted to organic."On a per-carton basis, it cost us 30 percent more than conventional, because yields were lower.

UPPER MARLBORO -- Yesterday was payday for Southern Maryland tobacco farmers.Hundreds of growers -- bundled up in layers of work clothing to ward off a morning chill -- showed up at the opening session of the annual leaf auction at the Marlboro Tobacco Market Inc. warehouse to get a feel for how much they will be banking from a drought-damaged crop harvested in the fall.Nobody was celebrating.Prices were lower than a year ago, and there was concern that they could fall even more before the four-week sale ends.

Fruit growers in Maryland say last week's cold snap killed some of the early blossoms on their apricot, peach and plum trees. And they won't rest easy until the last threat of a freeze is gone in early May.But so far, they say, thanks to a slower flowering of local trees, they have escaped the widespread damage suffered by their brethren to the south.Georgia alone has reported more than $200 million in crop losses from the freeze, including peppers, tomatoes, blueberries and half the state's peaches.

Maryland's largest poultry company owners reacted with outrage yesterday after state officials completed new regulations that will hold the businesses responsible for water pollution caused by chicken manure. The regulations, believed to be the first of their kind in the country, will require poultry companies to verify that their growers have plans for getting rid of manure without causing polluted runoff. Such pollutants have been blamed for fish kills and are suspected of triggering toxic outbreaks of Pfiesteria in 1997.

Congress may soon finalize the 2012 Farm Bill, and that hefty document should concern all of us in Maryland - especially when it comes to clean water. As we all know, the Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest and most productive estuary. However, the bay is threatened by pollution from its major tributaries, including fertilizer-laden waters from farmlands. Each summer, nutrient runoff leads to algal growth, resulting in oxygen depletion as the algae decays. The loss of dissolved oxygen causes more than a third of the Chesapeake Bay to become a "dead zone.

Just as they do every April, the fruit orchards at Larriland Farm have donned their spring finery. The plum trees at the pick-your-own place in western Howard County sport brilliant white blossoms, while the peach trees are decked out in bright pink. Thing is, it's still March. Spring came early to Maryland, thanks to a run of unusually warm weather that awakened flowers, trees, birds and bees weeks ahead of schedule across much of the eastern United States. Larriland's fruit trees are flowering about a month earlier than usual, according to Lynn Moore, president of the family-run fruit and produce farm in Woodbine.

Every family celebrates Thanksgiving differently. Some focus on the founding of our nation while others reflect upon their personal blessings, but for almost everyone the celebrating revolves around food and drink. In today's modern and fast-paced economy, there is a huge gap between the producers and the end-users of any product. Children do not know that beef comes from cows. Supermarket cashiers can't identify the vegetables they ring up on the register. Consumers, no longer tied to the land, don't take the time to stop and reflect upon the year's worth of labor that went into harvesting a crop whether it be grapes or grain.

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. " -- Matthew 9:37 Good news. The jobs crisis is over. You read that correctly. There is plenty work available for downsized, furloughed and involuntarily separated laborers whose inability to land jobs in a rugged economy has driven the unemployment rate past 9 percent. You probably didn't hear about it in your lamestream media, but the problem has indeed been solved -- and it didn't take some fancy pants economic stimulus package to get 'er done, either.

Local melon growers and retailers are trying to reassure consumers after listeria linked to cantaloupe from a Colorado farm killed 13 people across the country, including one in Maryland — the deadliest foodborne outbreak in more than a decade. While federal public health officials have warned of the potential for more deaths, state officials are reaching out to retailers to ensure they're aware of the recall, and the produce industry is working to contain the crisis. Meanwhile, some consumers are putting off cantaloupe purchases.

Dan Rodricks ' recent column ("Immigrants: We detest them — and need them," June 30) unjustly slams legal immigrants and American citizens. By his column comments, it appears Mr. Rodricks does not understand there are drastic differences between Americans' attitude about legal as opposed to illegal immigration. American citizens appreciate the hard work that legal immigrants do in our country in all occupations especially those in the agricultural industry. What is not appreciated are citizens from other countries who illegally cross our borders (many with drugs tied to their back)

State tobacco farmers were celebrating a legislative victory yesterday that they say will go a long way toward stabilizing the Southern Maryland agriculture economy."

William Earl Moritz, a retired air traffic controller who was in the control tower the day what is now Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport opened in 1950, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at Carroll Lutheran Village. He was 90. Mr. Moritz, the son of a pharmacist and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised on South Calhoun Street in Pigtown. After graduating from City College in 1938, he enrolled at the Federal Aviation Administration Training Academy in Oklahoma City.