Southern Maryland topics – Farm Views: Ag in Southern Maryland

From Vine to Wine – Grape Harvest Season in Maryland

September 22, 2017 Priscilla Wentworth

Right now marks the busiest time of year for wine grape growers in Southern Maryland and across the region. Farmers who grow wine grapes, harvest grapes all at once at the end of summer verses other types of production that happen periodically throughout the season such as produce, meat, eggs and honey. As farmers in Southern Maryland were transitioning away from tobacco in the early to mid 2000’s, during the Tobacco Buyout, SMADC provided a research grant to University of…

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What do Southern Maryland Meats, Distilled Spirits, and Alpacas all have in common?

June 22, 2017 Priscilla Wentworth

…They will all be together Monday, July 31, 2017! Join SMADC, farmers, and local farm and craft vendors for a celebration of Maryland’s farms and food at the Buy Local Challenge 10th Anniversary Celebration Event – Southern Maryland Style. The event is open to the public as part of our efforts to continue to promote the regions’ farms, and provide outreach to the community about Maryland farms. The event will feature tastings of local farm products, a locally sourced Southern Maryland style buffet…

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SMADC Appoints New Chairman of the Board

May 22, 2017 Priscilla Wentworth

Since 2001, SMADC has operated at the behest of a team of board members comprised of representatives from different agriculture sectors who provide updates, information and recommendations to the board to assist the Southern Maryland agriculture industry. This April, SMADC appointed a new Chairman, Yates Clagett, to oversee the 19 member board– and in May, Yates officially kicked off the board meeting. As a former tobacco producer who transitioned to cattle, Yates understands the history of SMADC, where it has come from…

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SMADC debuts new logo!

April 10, 2017 Priscilla Wentworth

There’s been a flurry of exciting updates at SMADC over the past month, including our latest announcement: the unveiling of a new logo! The new logo brings together the origins of SMADC’s historic foundation in one colorful image. Showcasing the stewardship of our land and waterways– the iconic tobacco barn, the Chesapeake Bay, row crops, and that hot Maryland sun– all point to SMADC’s bright, new horizon! The larger re-branding and marketing initiative we are currently undertaking, aims to increase awareness for our programs, making SMADC a household name…

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SMADC Announces New Director

February 22, 2017 Priscilla Wentworth

The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC) is pleased to announce new Director, Shelby Watson-Hampton. Shelby is a Southern Maryland farmer, an Agricultural Marketing Specialist, and an active member of the Maryland farming community. In her previous position at the Maryland Department of Agriculture, she worked in the Marketing Department promoting and marketing Maryland products, farmers, and farmers markets, as well as running the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. Shelby is an active member of many agricultural associations and committees. She also farms on her family farm in…

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Happy New Year! Annual Report Published

January 6, 2017 Priscilla Wentworth

Happy New Year! January marks a good time to look back and reflect and look forward to the future. SMADC recently published its FY’16 End of Year Report (linked below). Some FY’16 highlights include: Maryland FarmLINK launched a new website (FarmLINK 2.0) with increased features for users 581 new members signed-up for the FarmLINK website/Weekly Roundup; 55 Maryland FarmLINK “Weekly Roundup” newsletters were sent to 1,900 subscribers 8 new farmer profiles launched Tomorrow’s Harvest website The Southern Maryland Meat Processing Facility is…

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Growing Quality Pastures to Raise Meats- On Farm ‘Grazing’ Workshop

August 29, 2016 Priscilla Wentworth

The Maryland Grazers Network and Chesapeake Bay Foundation in partnership with the University of Maryland Extension and the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission (SMADC) held a workshop and pasture walk last week with a focus on producing and managing high quality pastures for cows, sheep and goats, to ensure excellent meat products and enhanced soil conservation. Around 35 livestock farmers from around the region showed up at Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro on a warm evening to learn from experts about…

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Setting the stage for a flourishing future by Christine Bergmark

June 16, 2016 Priscilla Wentworth

By: Christine Bergmark, Executive Director, Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission Looking back over 15 years of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, I am filled with pride. We, the farmers, consumers, visionaries, staff and volunteers, have accomplished so much. Sixteen years ago, few could have envisioned Southern Maryland agriculture without tobacco. But the new crops, new markets, farm innovations, and consumer demand that followed gave hope with each fresh planting season that agriculture was and would continue to be vibrant…

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Selling local farm products through food hubs- new national report

May 18, 2016 Priscilla Wentworth

This blog is the first in a two-part series on selling local farm products through outside distribution channels like food hubs. This week, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, along with The Wallace Center, released the 2015 National Food Hub Survey findings, which indicates that the food hub model can be financially successful across a variety of legal structures and geographic or customer markets. Food hubs are businesses that aggregate and distribute source-identified food products, i.e. food that carries it’s farm…

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Farm products are the gifts that keep on giving!

November 23, 2015 Priscilla Wentworth

As the holiday season approaches Maryland’s farms offer a ‘home-grown’ alternative to the malls and stores. As you are busy getting ready, don’t forget to extend the gratitude and the bounty of the holiday season to local farmers. Creative gift giving takes many forms, but choosing items grown and created locally also gives a gift back to the community. Why not shop at a local farm or farm store for gifts, holiday meals, and festive gatherings? Not only will you eat…

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