Hosting a Field to Fork Farm Tour

Tuesday, 9/24 was a pretty special day. As part of CommonGround MidAtlantic, I hosted a Field to Fork Farm tour. Common Ground is a group of volunteer farm women who are "agvocating", in other words, sharing and talking about our family farms and agriculture so that people have a "real" view of farming. The program is self-funded by mine and other farmer's check off dollars. I blogged about check-off dollars earlier this year. You can read that post here.

Because I am a Registered Dietitian (RD) by training, I knew that I wanted to offer other dietitians the opportunity to do a farm tour. Dietitians are highly trained professionals knowledgeable about food and nutrition BUT the curriculum offers very little in the way of "food production", ie: farming. When I was in college, "food production" was a class you took to learn cooking in large quantities in a commercial food service operation, not how to grow food. We invited members of the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to attend and had 30 dietitians attend. It was super group of women who were very engaged with all the topics we covered. And we covered a lot of very hot topics! From biotechnology to precision agriculture, conservation and farming systems, antibiotics and animal welfare, water quality and soil erosion, diversification, market access, and preserving the farm and passing it along to the next generation all were discussed. My approach of the day was that there were no off limit topics. We as farmers have nothing to hide and nothing to be embarrassed about with our operations. We would be transparent and they could ask away. Here was the day in summary:

Field to Fork Farm Tour:

 We began at my farm where we talked about biotechnology. Here I am showing the difference between a tofu soybean plant and a Round Up (glyphosate) soybean plant.  The first question I got was if I was concerned about pollen drift. My reply - no, soybeans self-pollinate. Second question - So what makes the plant on the right GMO? Answer - herbicide resistance trait. If these were corn plants that open pollinate, then we would stagger the planting intervals so that they wouldn't pollinate at the same time.

Here you can see we are standing in the middle of the road, an advantage we have from being so rural. The field behind the group on the right side of the road are food grade or tofu soybeans we grow for a farmers cooperative we belong to. The field behind me on the left side of the road are glyphosate resistant soybeans. The two fields have similar yet different management strategies but do not require different equipment. Mainly in the food-grade soybeans, we try to control for "pokeweed" which has large purple berries and will stain the soybeans if the berries go through the combine. The end result would be purple tofu, which no one would likely buy...

We talked a lot about conservation, water quality, and precision agriculture. Due to the Chesapeake Bay, farmers in Maryland farm under an entirely different set of regulations that most farmers around the nation. Our farm has invested heavily in conservation tillage equipment, installed many, many best management practices on our farm, and have upgraded machinery to be able to do precision agriculture. Here I am explaining our GreenSeeker, which I blogged about in the spring. You can read that post here.

Some lucky ladies got to ride our combine as we are in the midst of corn harvest! Not something a lot of people get to do in their lives. One comment I heard from those who rode (besides how much fun it was): "I had no idea there was so much technology in those machines!"

Lunch was served by Sisters By Chance catering. These ladies did a superb job of serving the entire menu sourced from local farms.  They even made our machinery shop look welcoming and not so diesel smelling!

From our farm we went to Grand View Farm which is a grain and hog operation. My friend Jennifer is also a Common Ground volunteer and her farm provided the opportunity to talk about confinement operations, antibiotics and animal welfare. She shared with the RDs that they do not administer antibiotics unless animals are sick and for about 1 week when feeder pigs are first group housed. They do this because they have historical data showing that those animals routinely get sick when brought into pens for the first time, sort of like when kids first go to school and catch everything from each other.

We got to see the farrowing barn. Jennifer's farm does not use gestation stalls, the pregnant sows are grouped in large pens during their pregnancy. When they are ready to deliver, they are placed in farrowing stalls which you see above. Farrowing stalls are different from gestation crates. These farrowing stalls are designed to provide an "escape area" for piglets so that they are not laid or step on by the sow. It also provides a dry environment as the vented floor keeps the piglets dry allowing for waste to drain into the catch basin below. This reduces disease and provides more comfort. The piglets are weaned in 3 weeks and the sow returns to the group housing.

Holding a piglet was another highlight of the day. Those critters are cute when they are little, but 6 months later... not so much.

One lucky attendee even got baptized by piglet pee which I'm sure was her absolute favorite part of the tour (not)!

Then we were off to the Crow Farm, a farm that has really adapted itself in recent years to bring on the next generation and keep the farm forward-looking and profitable. From a history of dairy and grains, Crow Farm is now a grass-fed beef, vineyard and winery, with a B&B and a focus on agritourism.

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The group got an overview of the beef operation followed by a tour of the winery facility. 

Followed by a wine tasting of Crow Farm's award winning wines with a fantastic view of the vineyard! Prior to boarding the bus to head back to Annapolis, the group was able to buy local and purchase for themselves Crow grass-fed beef and wine. 

To cap off the day, attendees received a copy of No More Food Fights, by Michelle Payn-Knoper to reinforce the importance of farm and food conversations

This Field to Fork Farm Tour was a productive conversation around food and farming and for me, one of the most enjoyable days I've had in a long time talking about some very hot topics. 

Maya Angelou once said "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  My hope is, the dietitians who attended will have left this farm tour feeling positive about where their food is coming from and the authenticity of the family farms producing it.

Many thanks to the Maryland Soybean Board and the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board for providing the funding to make this farm tour a great 'agvocacy" day!

Poster Girl for Crop Insurance

Risk management is critical for family farms. Crop insurance is part of that portfolio in addition to other approaches such as diversification. A few weeks ago, I was asked to do a video for the Department of Agriculture on crop insurance for grapes. Maryland photographer, Edwin Remsberg came out to take pictures and ask questions about crop insurance specifically for grapes and in general about risk management for family farms. I think he did a fantastic job!

Grapes are a very risky crop, as are many fruits and vegetables. If you have any doubts about this, read my earlier blog Rain is a good thing... The pictures tell the story of why crop insurance is so important to farmers.

A Foodless Farm Bill

My  guest blog for

 Food and Nutrition Magazine

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Click Here to read blog: Foodless Farm Bill

Rain Is A Good Thing.... Well, Sometimes.

Rain, Rain, Go Away.... that's a pretty risky thing for a farmer to say. Its usually the other way around.

I never imagined I'd blog about excess rain, maybe lack of rain, but excess rain is generally only a problem for us on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the fall when hurricane season picks up and we are trying to get crops off the field.  This year we have the opposite problem, we can't get our crops IN the field to begin with, at least not soybeans. The crops we do have in the field are struggling and fruits and vegetables are beginning to show signs of rot from constantly being wet.

While drought is a difficult thing, so is excess rain. Here's why:

Wheat/Small Grain: See that wheat in the field? Its test weight is dropping because its getting rained on... Let me explain. Wheat quality is based in part on test weights which are done at the grain elevator when the truck pulls in. When wheat dries in the field naturally, it has a higher test weight meaning it has a higher starch content. After a rain, the wheat seed begins to regerminate which uses up some of the starch it created originally, and its "weight" is lower because it has less starch. In some severe instances, the head of the wheat will actually sprout, which again, effects the quality and the test weight.

 Field tomatoes standing in water is never a good thing. They will of course rot if it does dry out. Usually we have to irrigate our tomatoes. This year we have yet to turn on our irrigation pivots.

 Fruit rot in unripe grapes is unheard of. This was what I thought was black rot but was frustrated because I had a really good spray program. Tissue samples determined this was actually ripe rot on unripe grapes which is nearly unheard of. We had 24 days of rain in June and so far in July have had 10 days of rain which means this fruit has had very little time to get or stay dry. Vineyards have a lot of downy mildew as well from the moisture. If they lose their leaves due to mildew, then the fruit will never ripen.

This hay has been on the ground for 2 weeks. Its moldy and actually slimey and will get baled for mulch. We normally get 3-4 cuttings of hay off of fields each year. This year some fields havent been cut once yet. We are telling customers that hay will be very short this winter and to look for other sources because we have so little in the barn for sale, as do most of our neighbors who also make hay.

 Just a picture of one of my downspouts to illustrate how heavy it rains these days...

We still have nearly 300 acres of soybeans to plant. Excess rain is more disasterous than drought. If you can't get your crop planted you will have absolutely no income. At least with a drought you can get your field work done and your crop planted and have a small expectation of a crop this season.

If there was a way for me to send excess rain to the drought stricken areas, I would absolutely do so.

Farming - A lesson in community and civics.

I'm so excited to have been asked to guest blog for the America's Farmers blog about strengthening rural communities, sustainability and the role of family farms. Its near and dear to my heart because as I say in the blog, we pour ourselves into our local community.

The link below will lead you to the blog which is called:

Farming - A lesson in community and civics. 

And I LOVE the info-graphic that was created highlighting some of the major 

benefits family farms bring to their local communities!

Thanks America's Farmers for recognizing the many benefits farms provide

to rural America!

Chardonnay - 8 weeks later

Back in April I had this great plan to blog about one particular Chardonnay vine once a month. Well, the best laid plans.... I missed the month of May, so here we are, nearly 8 weeks later near the end of June, and a snap shot of that same vine:



So this was then, April 20-something.



This is now, 8 weeks later, June 20th.
Different direction of the picture but you can still see the lack of bud on the cordon but the
bud on the end did push.





This is the whole vine, and it has been thinned and lightly hedged.

That is remarkable growth. From a couple inches to over 4-5 feet in length in a matter of 8 weeks. Chardonnay is an early grower and usually first to be harvested followed shortly thereafter by Pinot Gris.

From this vine above you can see a couple things: there are small berry clusters. We are just a couple weeks past bloom and into the fruit set phase of growth. Once we have finished tucking vines into the catch wires, we will begin leaf pulling on the east side. We use the "sombrero" method of leaf pulling - leaves are removed from around the cluster except the one above it, leaving a hat or sombrero as a cover from direct overhead sunlight. Leaf pulling opens up the canopy allowing sunlight and air flow more directly around the cluster which lessens disease and improve ripening. You can see above the leaves I pulled on the ground in order to take the picture. 

In roughly 8 more weeks, we should be mid way through veraison which is when grapes turn purple unless they are white grapes, in which case they turn a more golden color and soften. So if i don't get around to do a July pic of the chardonnay, I will feature veraison.



An Example of Journalistic Integrity

If you've followed the the New York Times article from my Stay Calm & Farm On Blog, you know that my greatest issue with the article was that the reporter never contacted me to verify the information she received.  This is still true to date and yet the story has been reposted on no less than 35+ websites last time I checked.  Blogger activists have regurgitated the same information on website after website and only ONE reporter has contacted me... my local paper, The Delmarva Farmer.

Kudos to them, they showed integrity and did so in a fair and balanced manner.

Last week, they ran the story about the online petition that was started to have me and another dietitian removed from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics "Advanced Technology in Food Production" committee because we are perceived to be unduly influenced by industry, specifically Monsanto. In my case, because I was selected as one of the national finalists for Farm Mom of the Year, a program sponsored by Monsanto, and received prize money for that award, I'm accused of being unable to make professional, unbiased decisions related to biotechnology. The New York Times was mistakenly told that I was a "test farmer" for Monsanto as well. This is inaccurate on 2 fronts - 1. Monsanto has no "test farmer" program, and 2. Our farming operation as never done research for Monsanto. Furthermore, I don't make any seed purchase decisions or enter any grain contracts for our farm, so that perception of bias is totally unfounded. Last week, the Delmarva Farmer ran an article from my point of view and gave me the opportunity to present my perspective.

Here is a link to that story:

Article on Petition to Remove Schmidt

This blog is about journalistic integrity because that is my main complaint with the New York Times. They did not attempt to get any balance or alternate perspectives. They never once reached out to me unlike the Delmarva Farmer who did reach out to the dietitian who filed a complaint against me. Her view point was published in this week's Delmarva Farmer, as was the response from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics  regarding the NY Times article.

The Delmarva Farmer publishes Carole Bartolotto's view point:

View Point: Academy in "Big Trouble"

The paper also publishes the Dietetic Association's response:

The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Response to NY Times Article

Why am I giving you all these links? To illustrate what journalistic integrity looks like. Journalistic integrity does due diligence as evidenced by the inclusion of each of these articles in The Delmarva Farmer. They didn't shy away from being balanced. They didn't shirk their integrity by not offering multiple perspectives. 

Thank you Bruce Hotchkiss and The Delmarva Farmer for doing what Stephanie Strom and the New York Times did not, practice good journalistic integrity.