May 2013

by Howie Feaga, President - Howard County Farm Bureau

I hope that by the time you are sitting back to read this, we are living with more average temperatures and hopefully, more average rainfall. It seems that lately, we have been experiencing more above, or more below average, than normal. But of course, that is why we calculate averages. We aren’t always happy with the extreme values that averages are based upon. Then we always seem to prefer trying to hold Mother Nature to our own standards. And that just isn’t likely to happen.

I was really pleased to see so many of you at the Legislative Dinner. We had a good turn out of legislators and it gave us a chance to thank them for all the work that they do on our behalf. Our legislators were given an opportunity to try to explain what they see when faced with the decision’s they had to make. There are always differences of opinion and legislative decisions are not always to our liking.

That is why we need to help our legislators, and the public, to understand our reasons, for not always agreeing with some of the new laws and regulations that are being imposed upon us, at both the State, and the County level. These changes, are not always based upon the latest scientific information, nor always properly interpreted to best fit our needs. Sometimes, there is too much of an emotional element involved in political decisions and laws are changed just because they seem to be the "feel good" thing to do.

As I strongly suggested in my closing remarks at the dinner, we must now be the ones to educate our leaders in Annapolis and in Washington, DC in order for them to fully understand and responsibly react to the problems of modern agriculture.

We no longer do things like we used to. We take soil samples as well as manure samples to make sure that we are not applying excessive amounts of nutrients to our land. Farming is a way of life, but, it is also a business. We realize that we could not stay in business for very long if we waste money by applying excessive amounts of fertilizers and chemicals.

We have, with the help of modern technology and more modern machinery, been able to avoid the overlapping of fertilizer and chemical applications. With the help of space-age technology, such as GPS, we can accurately track each field at the time of harvest and determine what our crop yields are and then make adjustments based upon that information.

With the help of the expertise of the folks at the Howard Soil Conservation District, as well as all the informative publications that we receive, such as periodic "Farm Magazines", we have learned about the benefits, as well as the problems, that have occurred, with innovative practices such as crop rotations and tillage methods. We also keep up-to-date about the latest practices we should follow to protect and improve animal health and well-being.

So, the next time you are out with the general public, let them know that you don’t farm the way that your parent’s and grandparents used to, not that they were wrong, but that through them passing their knowledge to you and their open-mindedness as well as ours, we are, and always have been, improving our way of life, as well as that of our neighbor’s lives, in the process.

Remember, that without erosion we would not have the Grand Canyon or the Mississippi Delta, two of this countries greatest treasures. With time and scientific knowledge we can make our own small treasures and preserve our world, in a slow and effective way.

So, like I always say "Keep your plow in the ground, we’re all pulling for you". Or, more in today’s reality, "Keep your computer turned on and your minds wide open. We’re all in this together".

MARCH 13 MESSAGE

The Ground Hog came out of his den (or as you may have noticed on TV, was reluctantly removed) and did not see his shadow. So as legend has it, we will have an early spring. I have always counted Ground Hog Day as being at the half-way point of our hay and feed supplies. In general, I believe that we should do well with our supplies so long as we have no major snows or other winter weather to slow down the arrival of spring. The days are now getting longer and we are doing ok so far.

I hope that the weather out in the Plains states treats our fellow farmers with some moisture soon or they will be in trouble again this summer. The Mississippi River is at the lowest level that it has been since 1988. At that time, they closed the river for 30 days in the St Louis area. Authorities are hoping not to have to close it again this year, but it is getting close to that happening again. The tugboats are having trouble moving barges of grain and other commodities up and down the river. Let’s hope that the situation changes soon, and for the better.

We have been through some of the most controversial times, that I can recall, during the last few months – e.g., the rewriting of PlanHoward 2030; our new zoning regulations as part of that process; and the State’s new laws that are being passed down to us. It has been a stressful time for us all. I hope that things settle down soon.

With the changing of generations, as well as the new laws, it has put some of us on different sides of the issues, in some situations. Those of us who are here for the long haul in agriculture view things a little differently from those who are at, or are approaching, the end of their farming careers. We all want what is important to us, and those differences are always in the mix when we are trying to work out changes. I hope that the turmoil will end soon, and we can get back into our fields, with the warm breezes in our faces and the sunshine to our backs.

Our Legislative Dinner is coming up on the 11th of April and I look forward to seeing all of you there. Bring your questions and a good appetite. I encourage all of you to try to be present, not only to visit with your representatives in government, but we have a very special presentation planned and you won’t want to miss that.

So, like I always say, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

JANUARY 13 MESSAGE

It’s 2013 already and it seems like we just got started with 2012. Where did the year go? It’s been so much fun we can hardly stand it in our area. Some of our neighbors have not had it so good, with the drought and storms. But we can really count our blessings in our local area. Hopefully everyone had a great Christmas, and you are ready for another fast-paced year of accomplishments and triumphs over life’s challenges.

I want to welcome our new board members. They are, Mitzi Jones, Martha Anne Clark, Guy Moore, Jamie Brown, Mark Hereth and Mark Iager. I look forward to working with them in the coming years. I also want to thank those board members who are retiring (for now) for doing a great job. I wish them luck in the coming years. They are Lynn Moore, Charlotte Mullinix, Shelly Bulhman, Charlie Feaga, Bucky Clark, and Tim Dowd. It has been a pleasure serving with all of you.

By now I’m sure you know that the Md. State Farm Bureau Board has been reconfigured to a smaller size. The counties were divided into districts to reduce the number of State Board members. Our district consists of Carroll, Montgomery and Howard Counties. Our district has two representatives on the State Board. They were elected by a caucus election at the Ocean City Convention in December.

As you know, we tried to elect them with the combined membership, but due to some complications, we had to reconsider that approach and move forward. We have Jay Rhine now as our 2-year representative and Tom Hartsock as our 1-year representative. Tom will also serve on the Executive Committee. Congratulations to both of you.

It will be interesting to see how things work out. Like most any new change in procedure, there will be some bugs, I’m sure. But please be patient and bear with the new State Board of Directors as they work through the "rough spots" and continue to move forward once again. We will elect someone next year for a 2-year term. After that, we will be on a regular cycle of electing a new representative every year who will serve a 2-year term.

There was a little sadness expressed at our December board meeting. We had to wish a fond farewell to our retiring secretary, Merhlyn Barnes. She has served as secretary for 30 years and has been the heart and soul of the Howard County Farm Bureau during that time. We could not have been better represented during that period. I could not have had a better teacher of all the duties I had to learn when I took office. She had more patience than a saint with me as I went through those first couple of years. I will always be indebted to her for all her help, as will the entire county for the countless hours of time she spent as our WONDERFUL secretary and friend.

Merhlyn is handing over the minutes to Leslie Bauer who will take the job of secretary. Together with Merlyn’s help and mine, I’m sure that Leslie will do a great job. Leslie and her husband Ricky have 3 children. They grain farm as well as raise hogs and beef cattle near Dayton. She has helped with the Sheep and Wool festival for several years and I look forward to working with her.

So as we begin a new year and venture into the unknown, I wish everyone a good New Year. Like I always say, "keep your plow in the ground; we’re all pulling for you."

NOVEMBER 12 MESSAGE

Well, how about this weather? We have been so lucky to end the summer and go into the harvest with some of the most favorable weather since last spring. Everyone is asking me what the forecast is for the winter. I can only answer that the weather forecasters have trouble predicting what it will be for the next three days. So, I think that we will get what we get. We can handle it, we always have.

We tried our best to get the details of the election of our District Directors worked out only to be confronted by a "brick wall" right at the end. In an effort to be in compliance with the State by-laws, we will have to wait on a critical definition to be interpreted by the State Board before we can go forward. No one is more disappointed than I am. But, we will continue to do our best with the situation at hand.

I hope that the Director issue will be quickly resolved so that I can update you at our Annual Dinner on the 8th of November. We will be electing six new County Farm Bureau Board members and a slate of officers at that meeting. So, I hope that all of you can be there to welcome these people to their new positions. Also, I hope that you will thank the directors who are retiring for doing such a great job for us all.

Speaking of elections, I would encourage everyone to get out and vote in the upcoming Presidential Election. In these trying times we need to continue to show an interest in who we elect. The outcome may not always be the way we want it to be, but at least if you vote you can say you were a part of history. Just knowing that you did your part by exercising your valuable freedom to vote, is a great reason to be proud of this country that we live in. Not everywhere do people have that right. So, be thankful and take advantage of what this country has to offer.

With the fall harvest beginning to come to an end, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving soon and then it's on to Christmas. It's a time to take a look back at all the things you and your family and friends have accomplished over the past year, and then look forward to next year, to try and do even better.

I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas! And an even better Happy New Year! So as I always try to remind you, "keep your plow in the ground. We're all pulling for you".

SEPTEMBER 12 MESSAGE

Well, the summer is about over and if you are anything like me, we are all pretty much ready to have it come to an end. The heat has been a real burden on us all. We have to be thankful though, that we, at least most of us, have received a goodly amount of rain. You don’t have to travel very far our area to see how the lack of rain has taken a heavy toll on many crops and pastures. We have been very blessed to have gotten what we did.

I’d like to congratulate our new Miss Howard County Farm Bureau, Molly Ousborne. She did a great job in the contest as well as did the other contestants.

Our Little Miss Howard County Farm Bureau is Rebecca Herriotts, and our Little Future Farmer is Mark Chaney. Congratulations to all of you. I look forward to seeing all of you throughout the coming year as you carry out the duties associated with your respective new roles.

I would like to thank Katie Loveless for the great job that she did this past year as our 2011 Miss Howard County Farm Bureau. She was well-spoken, offered a smiling face and a bright voice for Farm Bureau wherever she went. Thanks, Katie, and Good Luck in all of your future endeavors!

Your county Farm Bureau Board of Directors is meeting again with the Montgomery and Carroll county Boards to develop the list of nominees for our State Board of Directors position. We will be sending that final list of candidates to our voting members so that they can vote for our 2013 representative and also for our 2013-2014 representative. If you have any questions about any of the nominees or about the election itself, please don’t hesitate to discuss these issues with me or with any of your board members. I will try to keep you up-to-date with the outcome of the election, and later on regarding how the new board structure is working out.

Try to slow down and enjoy the cooler weather. The trees should have some brilliant colors this fall as they take that last turn to winter. Be careful as the fall harvest begins and take your time. As always, the fall work will get done as it always has. And remember what I always say. "Keep your plow in the ground, we’re all pulling for you."

MAY 12 MESSAGE

Well here we are, all as busy as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. We had way more rain last fall then we could use, and now we are so dry. Now we wonder what this summer will bring. I hope that by the time you read this we will all have received a good soaking rain.

In our efforts to get as much done as we can in a short period of time, don’t forget to take a moment to slow down and check, then double-check your equipment. You have more time to do it right the first time than to do it over again. Also I want to remind you of another important safety consideration. As you and your kids, relatives, and/or friends start out to take a quick ride on your 4-wheeler, please slow down. I recently lost my cousin’s husband to a 4-wheeler accident and I lost a cousin several years ago to a 4-wheeler accident also. They are great tools and are a lot of fun, but just be careful with them. I don’t want to have to add your name to my list of losses.

The General Assembly session in Annapolis is now over, and I hope they don’t get called back in. If they couldn’t get the job done during the regular session, then why waist our tax money on bringing them all back. We did manage to get the Estate Tax exemption of $5 million on agriculture as long as the farm stays in ag for 10 years after the owner’s death. We can be very thankful for that success. It has been a long time in coming.

We will have had our Legislative Dinner by the time you receive this Newsletter, and I hope that all of you had a chance to attend. It’s always been a good dinner and an excellent chance to meet our representatives and question them first-hand about any concerns that you may have had. As always, I want to thank our elected representatives for taking their valuable time to visit with us.

The following report concerns the proceedings of a very important Tri-county Farm Bureau Board meeting held on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 in Gaithersburg. In an effort to reduce the current large, and somewhat unwieldy, size of the Maryland State Farm Bureau Board of Directors, a new, re-structured, State Board with fewer members is in the works. Delegates representing the Carroll, Montgomery and Howard County Boards convened to work out a plan for equitably selecting two representatives from our new tri-county district to serve on the re-structured, down-sized Maryland Farm Bureau Board.

This new Board structure was adopted by the Maryland Farm Bureau last December at the State Convention in Ocean City. The new plan divides the state into districts that in effect, makes the state board smaller and more efficient. Our new district is composed of Carroll, Montgomery, and Howard Counties. These three counties will be represented on the new State Board by two directors.

The purpose of our Tri-County Board meeting was to work out a fair way to select the two directors who would represent the three counties. After much discussion about possible ways to do this, we came up with the following procedure. The FB Voting Membership will vote (bring in your card) at each county’s Annual Dinner Meeting, or you will be able to vote by mail.

It was also agreed that by September 1st, each County Board will nominate no more than two candidates from their county for their state director’s position. Another Tri-County Board meeting will then be convened during September at which time the candidates will present their resumes and be interviewed. Your County Board will then make that information available to the Voting Members.

The Voting Members will vote for two of the six possible nominees. The two nominees receiving the highest number of votes will represent all three counties on the State Board. Initially, one director will serve a one-year term, and the other will serve a two-year term. After the first year, one director will be elected each year and will serve a two-year term.

We thank you for your patience as we work our way through this re-structuring process. We hope that everyone is clear on just what we are doing, and the reasons for doing it. Regardless, I hope that you will, once again, remember what I always say. "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

MARCH 12 MESSAGE

Everything seems to be higher so far this year. Gas prices, grain prices, temperatures, seeds, milk prices, propane, hay, twine, you name it, they’re all up. So what happens when some prices come down and others stay up? Be a little cautious, take care now, and save back a few dollars for when things do start coming back down. Seems that nothing lasts forever, so let’s enjoy it while it’s here.

If the new Septic Bill passes, we will see our farm’s value go down. If you have equity loans, they will lose some of their value due to the reduction of that value. The Farm Bureau will keep on trying to defeat that one. If the estate tax bill called "Family Farm Preservation Act of 2012" passes, the exemption level will go to $5,000,000, but not without certain requirements. So, get ready for a real "roller coaster" ride of ups and downs.

OK, on now to some good news. I want to congratulate the Robert and Drew Stabler families on winning the "Maryland Hall of Fame" Farmers of the Year Award for 2011. Presentation was made at at the recent Maryland Ag Dinner. These brothers and their families farm mostly in Montgomery County and have done a fine job. They are well known in the Ag community for their hard work and their all-around community service. We wish them many more years of successful farming.

I want to recognize Rhonda Winkler for standing up for the U.S. flag in her town of Lisbon/ Woodbine. If her efforts are successful, we will all be able to fly our American flag in other traffic circles to show our troops that we are behind them as they risk their lives for us every day that they are away.

With the help of Warren Miller a bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Rhonda and Warren both testified in Annapolis to help get things on the way. Let’s hope that they are successful in this patriotic endeavor. Let’s cheer them on!

That same day, Farm Bureau and others went to Annapolis to visit with our legislators and to sit in on some of the other hearings being held that day. I hope that our presence shows the elected legislators that we do care and that we need them to represent us well when we cannot be there ourselves.

Some of us will travel to Washington DC on March 28th to meet with our senators and representatives to discuss new issues of this session, such as the Trade Agreements that were last year’s discussion topics. I feel we had a part in getting Congress to see our side of those issues, and they voted favorably. Hopefully, we can have the same success this year.

As I write this message, it is a cold and windy day. But soon, the days will start getting a lot longer and the warmth of the sun will begin to warm both us and the earth. We will then see the green coming back into our surroundings. The ground will begin to dry out and we can once again get back onto our fields in preparation for planting and nurturing our crops. We can all be thankful that we live in such a place as Howard County, where we can enjoy winters that are not all that cold, and summers that are not all that hot and friends that come from all walks of life.

We will always have problems from time to time, learning to live with each other, but if we concentrate on the solutions more than the problems themselves, then we will succeed in living together as harmonious neighbors.

So, remember what I always say. "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you".

JANUARY 12 MESSAGE

Well, we made it through another year. It always seems so far away when you think of something a year away and then all of the sudden it is here. When we look back at the year we just had, it’s been cold, snowy, wet, dry and wet again. I guess Forest Gump’s mom was right, you never know what you’re going to get. We know one thing for certain though. Things will change and all of us will make the best of it, we always have. I believe that we farmers have even more capability to handle change than most others because we have always had to make changes to meet the task at hand. We can all be proud of those abilities.

We traveled to Ocean City for our annual convention in December and we are changing there also. The delegates voted to reduce the size of the State Board. We will share representation on the Board with two other counties, Montgomery and Carroll. There will be two representatives from the three counties as State Board members. Communication will be the key to making this new arrangement work. Lets all do our best and once again change will become the normal.

Congratulations to our President Pat Langenfelder, 1st Vice President Chuck Fry and 2nd Vice President Jim Steele on their reelection. Thanks to them for a job well done this past year. And congratulations to the Mullinix Brothers for winning the 3rd highest sales award for Maryland Farm Bureau Tire’s.

I want to thank everyone that helped the Hudson Family over the past year. Hopefully, the Hudson’s nightmarish law suit will end soon. No one deserves to be harassed that way. The Hudson’s personally thanked us all at the convention dinner. Keep up the fight; it is for all of us.

A second barn was lost to fire last year. Grant Hill’s hay barn was lost in mid-December. I hope that no one else has to experience such a disaster. A barn fire has got to be one of the most feared, and expensive, events to happen to anyone.

The first annual Lisbon Christmas Horse Parade on December 10, 2011 was a big success thanks to the efforts of all its organizers and participants. They did a great job to help bring back a really neat part of our past. The Carroll County and Howard County food banks benefited the most, and that’s a good thing.

I want to welcome Rhonda Winkler and Mark Martin to our local Board of Directors, and I want to thank Susan Baker and Brice Ridgley, our retiring members, for serving their terms and for doing a fine job for us.

Well I hope everyone has gotten their crops harvested and that your Holiday Season was a happy and blessed time. So as always, "Keep your plow in the ground, we’re all pulling for you"

NOVEMBER 11 MESSAGE

Well, as I sit here writing this message, outside it is pouring rain once again. I can only hope that everyone is safe at home as I am. The rain has been relentless this fall and every time we think that it has stopped for a short while, the race begins to get as much done as possible before the rain returns again. Try not to get in too much of a hurry to get ahead of the weather and then make some unfortunate, perhaps costly, mistake.

With the stress of the weather and the effect that it has on every crop, and every job we have to do, it still is better than the stress that the Waterkeeper Alliance has put on one particular Maryland farm family, Alan and Kristin Hudson of Berlin, Maryland. Due to a series of circumstances that were out of their control, the Waterkeepers are suing this family, in the opinion of many, for no valid reason. But like most of us, their finances can not handle the legal fees that they have incurred in an effort to defend themselves against these unjustified charges. I would encourage all of you to go to www.savefarmfamilies.org on the web and decide if you can help this farm family in any way. This horrendous situation could have befallen any one of us that this group chose to target and destroy, all without any scientific, or even logical, test results, to pinpoint the alleged pollution that the Hudsons have been charged with creating.

We also have to be thankful that most of us have not gone without rain for so long, that we had to sell our livestock, so that they would not starve because of the lack of pasture and water resources. The farmers in Texas may need help as well as some of those in other states that had flood waters to cover their farmsteads, filling their barns, grain bins, and machine sheds, with water that took days, weeks, or months to recede before they could begin cleaning up the damages. The loss of feed, hay and animals has got to be one of the most damaging events that anyone could ever have to experience. I hope perhaps, that as a group, the Howard County Farm Bureau, might be able to help in some way, to get some of these fellow farmers past these disasters and back on their feet.

I also learned by way of a telephone call just as I was finishing up writing this article, that Betsy Hobbs’s straw barn had been hit by lightning and had burned to the ground. I hope that you all can keep her in your prayers. She has had a really rough go of it lately. I have always thought that to lose a barn, in this case, one filled to capacity with straw, is one of the most depressing things a farmer can experience.

Our Annual Dinner meeting is scheduled for November 10, 2011. I hope to see all of you there, to enjoy an evening of good food and good fellowship. We need to provide ourselves with a chance to forget our struggles, and to recognize that we are not alone with the burdens that we bear.

We will be electing new board members and officers that evening. So don’t miss this opportunity to be in on this important process. Finally, like I always say, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you".

SEPTEMBER 11 MESSAGE

Well, the end of summer is fast approaching. Where did the summer go so fast? We have had a pretty good summer here in the Glenelg area, but just a few miles away, the season has been very different. The lack of rain has left its mark on all the crops and pastures. As I write this though we are getting some rain that has been very widespread over our whole area. So, I hope these rains have helped everyone, even though for some, it may have arrived a little late.

I would like to congratulate the new Howard County Miss Farm Bureau, Katie Loveless, she was selected from a group of seven contestants. All of the girls did a great job. But, of course, we could only have one winner to represent us. The girls were all very helpful to one another and it was almost like the movie "Miss Congeniality". We can look forward to a great future for this contest. We must hope that this trend will continue with the next groups of contestants.

I would also like to congratulate the Little Miss Farm Bureau winner, Ellie Feaga, and Kevin Spicer, the winner of the Future Farmer award.

It was nice seeing so many of you at the fair, and the kids did a really great job with all their animals, baked goods, and exhibits that they entered in the hopes of perhaps picking up a blue ribbon or even a championship. Good job, kids, and hope to see you next year.

I hope everyone can spend a little time this fall harvesting and enjoying the cooler weather. Try to slow down and take your time. You have always gotten your work done before and I’m sure it will get done again this year. So like I always remind you, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you." We will see you soon.

Howie Feaga (center), Howard County Farm Bureau President, accepts recognition for being selected as the 2011 Howard Soil Conservation District Cooperator of the Year. Some of the officials participating in the presentation were, from left to right, County Council Member Greg Fox, Howard SCD Manager Robert Ensor, and County Council Member Mary Kay Sigaty.

MAY 11 MESSAGE

Well here we are into May already, can you believe it? Seems we were hoping to get out of winter without too much more snow, and now here it is spring. This is a great time of the year especially for farmers, we start to see everything grow, and we are planting our crops. There is no better thing then to be a farmer in the spring time.

We had a great Farm Bureau visit to Washington, DC. This year, we had quite a few people go along to try and help persuade our legislators to understand our point of view on some of the bills that were being considered. Somehow, I think that we helped even though we don’t always see things that way. I do think that our efforts make a small difference some of the time and that is a start.

The Legislative dinner a couple of weeks ago was a big success, we had a lot of elected officials present. They were at least willing to visit with us and give us their perspectives on our government, even though it isn’t always what we want most to hear. The dinner and the fellowship were great and I thought that overall, we had a good evening. We look forward now to seeing everyone in the fall when we have our annual dinner.

Congratulations to Brent Rutley and Martha Clark Crist, among others, who were appointed to the General Plan Task Force. I would encourage everyone to let our Task Force representatives know of anything that you feel needs to be addressed in revising this document. It is your chance to make a difference.

Well, try not to work too hard or to fast, and enjoy this time of the year. Once again, "Keep your plow in the ground, we’re all pulling for you."

MARCH 11 MESSAGE

Are you as ready for spring as I am? We haven’t had a really bad winter yet. It just seems to me though, to have been really long and cold.

We attended the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in Atlanta, Georgia in January, and yes, it snowed while we were there. Although it only amounted to a few inches, for Atlanta, it turned into a disaster. The buses stopped running and the taxi’s were off the roads. Many people didn’t make it back to work the next day.

But, we had a good time and our keynote speaker, Mike Rowe from the TV show "Dirty Jobs", was a great speaker and did an outstanding job. (See the accompanying article in this Newsletter about his message.) He is very pro-farmer and some of his shows have been heavily criticized by the EPA and the OSHA people. But he broadcast them anyway because they represent real life. You have to like him just for that.

I congratulate Pat Langenfelder on her election to the national AFBF board of directors. I know that she will do a great job in that position and will represent Maryland very well.

The Legislative Affairs committee and all the Farm Bureau staff are back to working with all of our new and returning representatives to try to keep all the new bills on the right track. We don’t need anymore hardships to deal with than the ones that we already endure.

Locally, I am glad to see that we received a favorable vote from the Howard County Council on the Beekeeping bill. I believe we can all live with that decision. I would like to thank the Council for all of the time and effort that they put into that issue. I also want to thank the beekeepers and hope that they can now go back to their hives and keep them healthy and busy doing their very important job of pollinating crops. I hope to see all of you at the Legislative Dinner coming up later in the spring.

With spring coming on and our lives about to get really busy, try to take it easy and not hurry so much and make a costly avoidable mistake with either a piece of your machinery or with your tools. We all tend toward getting in a hurry sometimes, and that, unfortunately, can lead up to the making of a terrible accident. So slow down and remember, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

JANUARY 11 MESSAGE

Well, winter is here, we have already had a couple of light snows, but it made driving a mess. Unfortunately, we most likely haven’t seen the worst yet. Let’s hope that we don’t have a winter like last year. That should be a once in a lifetime event. Hopefully most crops are now out of the field and we can take care of our animals without too much trouble.

The recent Maryland Farm Bureau Convention in Ocean City went well. We adopted a few new policies and have a battle on our hands with the lawsuit filed against the Maryland Department of Agriculture, but hope to do well with that.

I would like to congratulate our 1st Vice President Chuck Fry and 2nd Vice President Jim Steele on being reelected; they have done a great job and work well with everyone. Pat Langenfelder, President of the Maryland Farm Bureau, has done a great job as well and has a couple more years on her term. I am looking forward to traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to attend the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in January. I hope to return to Howard County with a lot of new idea’s for the future.

I hope everyone enjoyed our recent Annual Dinner at the Lisbon Fire Department Social Hall. It is always good to see all of you and it was good to have some of our neighboring county Farm Bureau Presidents as well as our State President in attendance to enjoy a great evening.

We have had a good year and hope to have another one next year. So, like I always say, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

NOVEMBER 10 MESSAGE

Wow. Did this summer ever go fast, or did it just seem that way to me? Fall is all but over now and it seems like we just got cooled down from a record hot summer. I hope everyone had a good summer. It seemed like it was an exceptionally hot one with rain arriving just in the nick of time. It wasn’t the worst summer for most of us, but the weather did challenge a lot of areas in the state that weren’t as fortunate as most of us.

With the harvest in high gear now, remember to take your time and be extra careful. We don’t want to hear about you in the news. I would like to send our heartfelt condolences to the Dell Family in Carroll County on the sad loss of Tommy Dell. You never know when life will take a tragic turn. We all know from our own experiences that it just takes a split second and we can be in trouble. Please slow down and enjoy life to the fullest, and good luck!

We will be heading to the Maryland Farm Bureau Convention in Ocean City on December 5 - 7. Among other items, we will be considering policy suggestions that have been submitted over the past year. We also will enjoy visiting with other delegates from across the state, some of whom we only get to interact with on these annual occasions.

Everyone continues to work hard in making Maryland Farm Bureau as effective as possible. We will soon have the newly elected legislators to become acquainted with and hopefully, to try and educate them about our needs. We must let them know what policies work best for us so that any future decisions they make are in our best interests.

I hope that everyone will plan to attend the Annual Howard County Farm Bureau Dinner on November 11th at 7 pm. We look forward to seeing all of you there. We look forward to enjoying a great meal and fellowship with many of our friends.

So for now, like I always say, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you"

SEPTEMBER 10 MESSAGE

MAY 10 MESSAGE

I hope everyone enjoyed the fellowship and the food at the Legislative Dinner on April 15. Those nice ladies at the Lisbon Fire Hall sure know how to prepare a good meal.

Did everyone listen closely to their legislators trying to make sense of this year’s session in Annapolis? Remember, this is an election year, and you need to really evaluate what went on and prepare to make a decision next fall that will be best for you.

Your Board of Directors has been working hard to get our membership up so that our voice is heard loud and clear. We are all being asked to sign up one new person, each of us, starting in July. But I think that is an unrealistic goal. Nevertheless, we should still try to do our best to increase membership.

Well, who would have thought that we were going to have such an early spring. It is very welcome though isn’t it? After all that snow last winter, I’m sure no one is complaining. With the weather getting better, we all are anxious to get out to the fields. But once again, please take your time. You will still be able to get your work done. Try not to rush through to the next job. You will still get it all done.

With all the snow in February, it will seem as though we will have had only an 11 month year because we lost that whole month. But we will catch up. You just need to work at it and re-prioritize. You will get through it. Like all of you I am looking forward to a great summer and just like a farmer I am hoping for "PERFECT" weather.

You all take care and I hope to see you at the Ho. Co. Fair, and like always "keep your plow in the ground, we’re all pulling for you".

MARCH 10 MESSAGE

WOW!! It just kept on coming. Just when we thought that it had finally stopped raining, then it just wouldn’t stop snowing. We have blown the seasonal record for snowfall right off the books.

I hope that all of you made it through the storms safe and sound. I did hear that tragedy struck at Gene and Charlotte Mullinix’s Woodbine farm with the collapse of one of their big feedlot barns. I haven’t heard yet how many animals were lost or injured. Regardless, we wish them well on their cleanup and recovery efforts.

Hopefully, no one else has suffered this kind of misfortune. All that we can do is learn from our experiences. And it seems that there have been more than enough opportunities for learning from our weather-related experiences of this past fall and winter. Please be safe in your future endeavors. Take your time and look ahead.

I had the wonderful opportunity of traveling to Seattle, Washington in January for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention. Believe it or not, it was warmer in Seattle than in Tampa Bay, Florida. We met many other farmers from across the country and enjoyed visiting with them.

We heard a very moving message from AFBF President Stallman, telling us that we must no longer tolerate the efforts of our opponents to change American Agriculture. Our adversaries are skillful at taking advantage of the politeness of members of the farm community. We must not allow that to continue lest it result in our demise. We need to be more proactive and actively defend ourselves and our way of life.

On the lighter side though, we were totally entertained by our keynote speaker, Terry Bradshaw, a former Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback and member of the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.

Spring is just around the corner and hopefully memories of this past fall and winter will fade, and we can begin to look forward to a more normal spring and summer.

So, like always, "keep your plow in the ground." "We’re all pulling for you".

JANUARY 10 MESSAGE

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. We all need to put last year behind us and start looking forward to the new year. Not that last year was that bad, it just really got old with that weather. We have had a little bit of winter and there are a lot of crops that have not been harvested yet. The only thing I can say is that you are not alone. This past fall was just one of the wettest that I can remember. Try to be patient and sooner or later things will get better.

Several of us went down to Ocean City to the annual Maryland Farm Bureau Convention and we left with a new President. She is former Howard County farmer Pat Langenfelder. She and her husband, "Dutch", farmed in Clarksville and moved to Kent County several years ago where they now have a very successful hog and grain operation. Congratulations to Pat.

Chuck Fry has moved up to 1st Vice-president and Jim Steel is our new 2nd Vice-president. I would like to express a fond farewell to our out-going president, Mike Phipps. He has done a great job and will always be remembered for his humor and talents as well as being a great Maryland Farm Bureau President. Good luck to all of these hard working, dedicated people.

Here at our county level we have a new Vice-president, Jay Rhine. Jay is a former dairy farmer and now farms part time, but also has a very successful landscaping business. I look forward to working with Jay.

We have two new board members now, Zack Brendel and Allan Bandel. Zack farms part-time and operates an excavating business that he and his brother Justin started along with a new septic pumping business. Allan Bandel, the other new director, you all have known as our newsletter editor for many years. I would like to welcome the new officers and directors and thank the rest for a great 2009. I am looking forward to another great year together.

So, like always, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you".

NOVEMBER 09 MESSAGE

Well here we are in the middle of harvest again and we are looking at Thanksgiving in just a few weeks. The summer was a lot different than those that we have gotten the last few years. Plenty of rain, lots of sun at times, but our weathermen still struggle with being able to predict the future. But I think it was a good summer all in all.

With the wet summer and fall it is going to be a challenge to get all the harvest done quickly, so we will need to be patient, and don’t let yourselves get into a worse situation by rushing. Take time to enjoy the fall with its cool breezes and wonderful colors. The colors of the trees are short-lived and before you know it, the cold winter winds will be here, the colorful leaves will be gone, and the winter will really be upon us.

I hope to see all of you at our Annual Banquet on the 12th of November. It’s always good to visit with you. It will be a good meal, as usual, and you will have plenty of opportunities to catch up on how all of your farmer friends are doing.

Your Board of Directors has been working hard to increase our membership. They made their goal! And that was not so easy to do. With everyone tightening their belts it was a job well done. A special thanks to Susan Baker, Shelly Buhlman, and Merhlyn Barnes who are the ones who really deserve a congratulatory "slap on the back".

I want to congratulate our new Miss Howard County Farm Bureau, Danielle Bauer. She also did a great job at the state contest. She is joined by the Little Miss Howard County Farm Bureau, Rachel King, and Future Howard County Farmer, Mitchell Feaga. These kids did a great job! I think we have another great generation coming along.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the up-coming Holiday Season! Once again, remember to "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

MAY 09 MESSAGE

I think that we made it! It’s warming up more each week and we are getting some rain and that’s a good thing. The daffodils are blooming and soon the Red Winged Blackbirds will be nesting in the weeds in our hay fields. I always leave a few weeds just for them, don’t you?

I hope you all enjoyed the legislative dinner. It’s always good to see everyone and it shows us that you approve of what we are doing. Your Board of Directors works hard to keep up with all the new changes and at the same time with their own farm work. With the economy in such a ditch, I can’t say rut, because I think it’s a bit deeper than that, we need to remind ourselves that we are all here together with the same problems. So don’t hesitate to tell others about how things are going, good or bad, and it will help everyone.

I was fortunate to be able to participate in Farm Bureau’s DC drive-in this year where we had, as a group, an opportunity to lobby our Congressmen and Senators. We met with each one in small groups to argue our views on how the different bills would affect us as farmers, and agriculture as a whole. We visited the Capital Visitors Center. It was all a really good experience for me. My background in how government really works is not very extensive, so this experience was quite educational for me.

It’s almost summer once again, so don’t be in too big a hurry to enjoy the early summer warmth and the nice summer days. I know that we are all very busy. But God didn’t make these nice days for everyone else. He made them for everyone. So have a great summer! Be careful! And like always, "Keep your plow in the ground; we’re all pulling for you."

MARCH 09 MESSAGE

The winter has gone rather well, we have had some cold weather and some snow and ice, but we have done better than a lot of other parts of the country. We are not done yet, but with the days getting longer, we can easily get through what is left.

I had the opportunity to go to the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention in San Antonio, Texas in early January. It was very interesting to meet so many farmers from all over the country. Our keynote speaker was Bill Bradley, a Hall of Fame basketball star for the New York Knicks and a former U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He assured us, and I agree, that we Americans will get through these tough times and will learn from the mistakes that have been made.

We went on a bus trip into the "Winter Garden" area of Texas and saw where they had already planted potatoes. We visited a feedlot, a beekeeper who had 9,000 bee hives, and a purebred Brahman breeder. We ate lunch in country music star George Strait’s home town of Pearsall, TX, though we didn’t see him. The food was great.

We are getting ready for our Legislative dinner on April 23 and I would encourage each of you to bring a friend with you who would be interested in hearing some of our legislators give us their updates on how things are going, or to just have a great dinner with friends.

We are trying to keep up with all the new bills that are being introduced. They are read and reviewed to determine whether they are in our best interests or not. We then make our commitment to be for or against them from an agricultural perspective.

I’m sure everyone is looking forward to spring, and as the days get warmer we seem to pick up the pace. But remember, there will be another good day. You don’t have to do it all today. Try to enjoy the new growth of the grass and tree’s. And be careful as you begin to run your machines – that’s everything from your lawnmowers to your corn planters.

So have a great spring and a prosperous summer. And like always "Keep your plow in the ground; we’re all pulling for you".

MARCH 09 MESSAGE

I hope that everyone had a great Holiday Season. The past year went by so quickly that it seems to have passed more in a blurr than as a normal 12 whole months. The year ahead of us, 2009, will most likely present many new challenges for us all. 　

Potential economic hardships will challenge almost everyone’s efforts to stay out of financial trouble. Some good advice might be to first try to talk out any problems before they get out of hand. You might ask a friend to just listen to your ideas so that you can face each new challenge with as much good reliable information as you can assemble.

The year-end Maryland Farm Bureau Convention in Ocean City went very well. We were able to get a lot of new policies introduced and accepted, including one that will help to protect our Beekeepers from unnecessary complaints from neighbors.

We are going to try to gain more support from our Nurserymen and Landscapers this year. The membership committee is working hard to encourage more of them to become interested in joining our County Farm Bureau. Next year we also plan to work on trying to interest more of the local Grape Growers and Wineries to join us in our ever more diversified county, to try and keep these industries viable through favorable legislation, ultimately for the good of Howard County.

We have a new Vice-President in place for 2009. Justin Brendel is a life-long farmer and I am looking forward to working with him in the coming years. We also have a couple of new directors on board for the coming year. Larry Barnard is a part-time grain farmer as well as a part-time builder. Phil Jones is a full-time dairy farmer. We welcome them both on the board.

I would also like to thank our secretary Merhlyn Barnes for all that she does in keeping our county organization running smoothly. And thanks to Allan Bandel, our Newsletter editor, for another year of hard work. All of the members of the Howard County Farm Bureau Board of Directors are doing a great job. My sincerest thanks go to all of them.

So, as always, please remember to, "Keep your plow in the ground. We are all pulling for you."

NOVEMBER 08 MESSAGE

Well here we are deep into harvest and have had some of the greatest weather. We are dry but this kind of weather is the next best thing.

We all hope to see you at the Annual Dinner meeting on November 13. For more details, please refer to the announcement elsewhere in this newsletter. We have new board members to nominate and bring on board, and we also will have our election of officers.

We are getting ready for Maryland Farm Bureau’s annual convention in Ocean City. If anyone would like to serve as a delegate, please let us know. I had the honor and privilege of being invited recently to the Frederick County and Carroll County Farm Bureau Dinners. Our neighbors are doing quite well and gave me a very warm welcome.

I hope that all of you are doing well. Try not to get in too big a hurry and make any costly mistakes. Have a wonderful Holiday Season and I will look forward to communicating with you next year. Like always, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

SEPTEMBER 08 MESSAGE

Where did the summer go? Seems that we were waiting for the weather to warm up just a few weeks ago. I hope everyone has had a good summer, a season that is quickly coming to an end. I do like the fall though. It is my favorite season.

I hope that you all got a chance to visit the Howard County Fair. We have a new Miss Howard County Farm Bureau. Miss Caitlin Patrick is the daughter of Denny and Nancy Patrick of Maple Dell Farm in Woodbine. I would like to thank Laura Bradley for the great job that she did as the 2007 Miss Howard County farm Bureau.

Seems that we are all busy with our comings and goings. But I hope that everyone will take time to enjoy the last of the summer. Before you know it, we will be into the busy fall harvest season and then the holidays.

Until next time, have a great end of the summer and a wonderful fall. And like always, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

MAY 08 MESSAGE

I hope everyone had a great Easter. It certainly came early this year. And how about that time change coming so early?. We are soon going to be in the fields at full go. I hope that we will all be careful. It’s so easy to get in a rush. That’s when accidents happen.

This spring has been a dry one, but maybe by the time this newsletter goes to print we will have caught up on spring rains. We definitely do not need another drought this year.

Our membership committee, Susan Baker and Shelly Buhlman, are doing a great job with trying to recruit new members to keep our organization strong and in an effort to help make our laws work for us. It was gratifying to have a good turnout at our Annual Legislative Dinner on April 10. I hope that everyone present got a chance to ask the questions that they wanted to ask – and got the answers too.

It has been one year on the job for me now as your president. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for all they have done to help me with the responsibilities that the office entails. I especially want to thank Merhlyn Barnes, our County Farm Bureau Secretary. She is always right on top of things. And your Farm Bureau Board of Directors has been very willing to quickly step up to each task. For their enthusiasm, I am very grateful. And last, but not least, I want to thank you, the members, for your great interest in this organization. It has meant a lot and has ultimately been what has kept us all going.

Well that’s it for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful spring and like always, "Keep your plow in the ground. We’re all pulling for you."

MARCH 08 MESSAGE

The winter has been pretty good so far this year. I hope everyone is doing well. The dry summer is still plaguing us with a shortage of winter feed. Thankfully we are past Ground Hog Day now and that is about the half-way point of the winter feeding season, although most of us have been winter feeding since September or earlier. So, we are two thirds through the winter feeding time. Let’s hope the rest of the winter will be mild.

This time of year our Membership committee is hard at work to get our membership up to meet the state’s expectations and that is not an easy task. Our committee is reaching out to many new potential members with the hopes of getting some more new innovative thinkers into our organization. I hope all of you will try to encourage your neighbors that may not be familiar with the Farm Bureau to join, so that we can have the support to carry on with our job, to guide the governing powers to help us to keep the laws working for agriculture.

As we do enroll our neighbors, I would encourage all of us, traditional dairy, beef, swine, and crop farmers, that have dwindled in numbers but not in importance to the farm bureau, to welcome these new members and their idea’s so that we can include those horse, sheep, goat, beekeepers, landscapers and other agriculture related business’s into our organization.

With springtime fast approaching we will all be anxious to get out and start our field work. We need to take time now to get our machinery and our bodies ready to work all summer. So start slow and work up to those heavy loads and try not to over-do it the first good day. And like always, don’t forget to "keep your plow in the ground, we’re all pulling for you."

JANUARY 08 MESSAGE

I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving, a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a healthy and prosperous New Year!

This past December, I had the privilege of attending the 92nd Annual Maryland Farm Bureau Meeting in Ocean City. There was a lot of time spent working on Farm Bureau policy and we all worked hard to see that they were the way you all would like to have them written I was really impressed with the process and must admit that I learned, and am still learning, how this process works. If you don’t think your dues are worth the $60.00 you pay, you need to experience these meetings. The Farm Bureau is our voice when it comes to having valuable input in the policies of our State and County laws.

We heard several very good speakers, one being Chad Hymas a young paraplegic farmer who had a terrible accident with a round bale that rolled over him while on the tractor. His message of encouragement was that you should be ready and able to change your life when things change, and that you should be thankful for what you have whether it is good or bad, it is what you make it.

Gov. Martin O’Malley spoke on making agriculture profitable to our family farms and promised to help make that happen. Dr.Cheng-I Wei, Dean and Director of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland, was also there to update us on the college’s latest improvements and programs.

Your Board of Directors, after taking a much needed break for the Holidays, is ready to go back to work for all of you. Thank you for all of your support during the past year. I would also like to thank the Board and your Secretary Merhlyn Barnes for all their help during my first year as your President and like always don’t forget – keep your plow in the ground we’re all pulling for you!

NOVEMBER 07 MESSAGE