Agricultural community builds relationships at county event

Yahoo

26-03-2025

The new Frederick County Office of Agriculture Strategic Plan was released on Tuesday by the county's Office of Agriculture.
County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said at an event that the county's previous strategic plan was from 2008, so she charged the then-newly created office with developing a plan.
'We knew we needed to refocus and make sure that we have a strategic direction that is going to work for our community and that is going to work for our farmers,' she said.
The plan made 28 recommendations over five focus areas: regulations; workforce and human capital; infrastructure; supporting the value chain; and outreach and marketing.
The numerous aims revolved around preserving farmland, making resources for farmers easier to access, and creating opportunities for farmers to learn and teach each other, as well as the broader Frederick community.
The strategic plan said that county farms produced over $184 million in 2022, up 40% from 2017.
This outpaced inflation, which was 17% over that time, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Katie Stevens, director of the Office of Agriculture, said one of the key points identified by the research that went into the strategic plan was a shift towards smaller farms.
She said Frederick, despite the population growth, was in a better position than peers.
'Unlike many other counties who have faced huge farm losses over the last five years, Frederick County has fared far better,' Stevens said.
The plan was unveiled at an event on Tuesday at the Frederick Fairgrounds.
Farmers, elected officials and others with connections to agriculture were encouraged by the Frederick County Office of Agriculture to network, share ideas and support the local farm economy.
Stevens said her team plans on having more such events to bring people together focused on a shared mission.
'Every meal we eat, every fiber we wear, and even many of the products we eat daily come from the hands of dedicated ag producers,' Stevens said. 'Agriculture is not just a profession, it's a way of life.'
Refreshments were provided, many of which came from local producers such as South Mountain Creamery, Scenic View Orchard, Dairy Maid Dairy, Catoctin Mountain Orchard and Moo Cow Creamery.
Cassie Fitzpatrick, who coordinated the event for the county's Office of Agriculture, said the decorations on the walls were provided by students from Liberty Elementary School, Sabillasville Environmental School, Carroll Manor Elementary School's Expressions program and New Market Middle School's Agribusiness Class.
Fitzpatrick said using the artwork as decoration was a way to 'incorporate what they're learning in school' into the broader agricultural conversation.
Among the government officials at the event were Fitzwater; County Council Member M.C. Keegan-Ayer; Robin Summerfield representing U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen; and Benton Anthony representing U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney.
Anthony presented Stevens and the county's Office of Agriculture with a certificate of congressional recognition in honor of National Agriculture Week 2025.
'This week, we celebrate the abundance provided by our Frederick County farmers,' he said. 'Thank you so much for preserving our farming heritage, assisting farmers in their endeavors and promoting a thriving agricultural center.'
Kevin Atticks, Maryland's secretary of agriculture, said a key to the future of farming in state will be reinforcing the unique access that farmers have to at least four major metropolitan areas within a two and a half hour drive.
He said that he often brings this point up when chatting with peers from other states.
'What they don't have is the direct markets that we do,' Atticks said. 'They don't have the communities that are so incredibly reliant on the food that we grow.'
Stevens drove the point home, pointing to a 28% growth in direct-to-consumer sales in Frederick County between 2017 and 2022.
She said that trend reflected 'a growing emphasis on local food systems.'
Atticks added that the room of farmers, advocates and elected officials knew the struggles farmers face, as well as the pressures from both the state and federal levels. That, he said, was different than many rooms he finds himself in.
'When you look at the chaos that's occurring right now related to a lot of the programs that our farmers rely upon, the fact that many of you in this room were teed up to sell food to food banks or sell food to schools, and those programs are gone,' Atticks said. 'When you look at the crisis that we're dealing with in Annapolis with our budget, and we're trying to tackle it head on, but that means that we actually have to tackle it head on and come out of it on the other side.'
Fitzwater echoed thar point.
'As Secretary Atticks alluded to, this is a difficult time for the ag community,' she said. 'The chaos, the uncertainty, it's just adding to what is already, we know, a difficult job that has had a lot of changing factors over the last several years.'
Fitzwater also said that a point of emphasis for her administration, in light of the strategic plan, was to make sure arable soil remained top of mind in other conversations.
'We know that Frederick County has some of the best quality soils, not only in the state of Maryland, but in the entire East Coast and where we put solar matters because we want to protect those soils,' she said.
Stevens said the diversity of Frederick County, identified in the research that went into the strategic plan, 'signals a diverse population that farmers can lean into for growing more specialty crops.'
All speakers mentioned the role of the agricultural community working together to build a future.
'We have to make sure that, as an industry, no matter your politics, no matter where you grew up, no matter how you think about what's going on in the world right now, you have to look at other people who are farming and unite,' Atticks said. 'Whatever flag you fly, term you use, whatever you brand yourself on your website, if you grow things and someone else grows things, you are, unequivocally, on the same team.'