Howard County, Maryland has a total land area of 161,394 acres
- of which
approximately 25 percent is farmland.
Agriculture is among the top five industries in the county - accounting
for more than $200 million in sales each year.
There are 318 farms with an average size
of 125 acres.
Howard County's major crops include dairy and livestock, corn and small
grains, and hay and pastures. Tree fruit, small fruits, and vegetables
add to the farm income. Pick-your-own operations, roadside stands, and
on-the-farm markets are important outlets for these commodities.
New
emerging agricultural products in Howard County include nursery
products, turf, bedding plants, and landscaping materials.
Got e-mail? If you would
prefer to receive your monthly meeting reminders by the much more
economical e-mail route, then please inform Merhlyn Barnes at
merhlynbarnes@aol.com
• Mary Jean Coles
at (410) 489-4717 or
cmjcoles4@aol.com for Future
Farmer or Little Miss Contest.
Photos of 2011
participants and winners:
This video is
dedicated to farmers, both past and present who have endured to
provide our safe, affordable and abundant food. Please take a
minute and thank farmers for all of their efforts.
Show Your Pride in
Preservation
By now, you’ve
probably seen the beautiful new "Farmland Forever" sign posted on
a neighbor’s farm. The sign is available to any property owner
whose land is in the Howard County Agricultural Land Preservation
Program (ALPP). All you need to do to let others know that you’ve
made the commitment to preserve your farm is fill out a form.
There will be no cost to program participants for the sign or its
installation. The sign is made of aluminum and is 24" x 30" in
size, and a sample of what it looks like is on the ALPP website,
along with the form. The County will construct the sign post and
do the installation.
If you would
like to show your pride in preservation, please complete and
return the on-line form to Joy Levy, ALPP Administrator, at 3430
Court House Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043. Joy can also be
reached at 410-313-5407 or
jlevy@howardcountymd.gov The link to the ALPP web page
is
http://howardcountymd.gov/DPZ/agriculture.htm
Maryland Farm Bureau
On-Line Membership Processing
You can go to the
Maryland Farm Bureau website and join our organization with a
valid credit card. Likewise current members can go to the website
and renew their membership, eliminating the need to mail in the
renewal notice with a check. Renewing members will need their
membership number.
Just go to
www.mdfarmbureau.com and click on
"Become a Member Today" in the top right hand corner.
