At a recent Future Harvest event in Baltimore County, Marilyn Anthony, Executive Director of Lundale Farm in Pennsylvania, raised the notion that the future for farming may be “land lease” rather than “land ownership.” Her reasons were simple...
At the Rural Coalition workshop Transitioning to Organics held on September 24th, Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman wove a colorful tale of the history of his family farm in Upper Marlboro. He pointed to a “hanging tree” where legend has it that a 19th century sheriff...
Last month, the newly formed START Farmers’ Network leadership decided it was time to visit farms. Surveys have shown that a large percentage of new and beginning farmers (both part-time and full-time) are interested in growing livestock. So our first trip was...
For most new Maryland farmers today, farming is a choice, not an expectation as it was in centuries past. There are many career options in this semi-urban state that typically has lower than average unemployment rates. New farmers are drawn to the land to grow healthy...
We Americans are used to seeing larger businesses outperform and consume smaller businesses. That trend is apparent in the agriculture industry, where four corporations control 80% of all meat processing and a just a few control control nearly all the seeds sold for...
A farmer recently contacted me about using Maryland FarmLINK to post the need for a farm worker. I encouraged him to do so and noted that there is no charge to post on the farm forum. Availability of farm labor is a common concern. If you are not genuinely interested...
