Last Wednesday, January 18th, MGPA President Steve Ernst provided an overview of grain farming in Maryland at the State of Maryland Agriculture briefing held by the House of Delegates’ Environment and Transportation Committee. He served on a panel along with Maryland Farm Bureau President, Chuck Fry and Kurt Fuchs representing both Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit and the Delmarva Poultry Industry. Steve’s report provided information to the committee on Maryland’s grain industry, environmental stewardship, ethanol, our national leadership, and more. During questions, he was commended by Delegate Robbyn Lewis (D – Baltimore City) on his inspiring and enthusiastic comments and the accomplishments of Maryland farmers. Other topics discussed by the panel included crop damage, nutrient management and cover crops, the importance of trade, the importance of crop insurance in the next farm bill, and the moratorium on the construction of poultry houses. 

President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, should “bode well for agriculture,” Jon Doggett, Executive Vice President and head of public policy for the National Corn Growers Association, said in an interview with the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. “We’re looking forward to working with [Governor Perdue]. He has a background in ag, and we look forward to working together to further the cause of American agriculture,” Doggett said. “The thing we hear over and over again from our membership is, let’s expand the opportunity to sell our products overseas. Trade is important to all of agriculture but particularly important to the corn industry. We need to move a lot of corn, and we need to move it out of the United States because most of our customers exist outside of the United States. So, we really need an opportunity to access those markets.” Perdue, a one-time veterinarian and former Governor of Georgia, also has a background in agricultural business.

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Following President Donald Trump’s executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, and comments made by the administration about possibly withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), more than 130 food and agricultural organizations signed onto a letter to the President highlighting the importance of the agreement and urging him to build upon that success. "With the productivity of U.S. agriculture growing faster than domestic demand, the U.S. food and agriculture industry — and the rural communities that depend on it — relies heavily on export markets to sustain prices and revenues," the groups say in a letter sent to President Trump on Tuesday. Under NAFTA, U.S. food and agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada have more than quadrupled, from $8.9 billion in 1993 to $38.6 billion in 2015.

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Have you been watching Season 4 of MPT’s most popular original series, Maryland Farm & Harvest? The February 7th episode will feature MGPA board member and past treasurer, Drew Stabler of Montgomery County. MGPUB is proud to be the primary sponsor of the series, reaching over four million people around the world. New episodes air on Tuesday evenings at 7pm.

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Exports of U.S. feed grains have a promising outlook after the completion of the first quarter of the 2016/2017 marketing year, according to recently published U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) trade data. Total exports of feed grains in all forms in September, October and November 2016 reached 1.1 billion bushels, up 32 percent from the same quarter last year. The strong first quarter and USDA's latest full-year forecasts for many of the product categories indicate that worldwide U.S. shipments of grains in all forms in 2016/2017 could be higher than the past marketing year, even reaching a new record high.

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently registered Dow’s Enlist Duo for use on cotton and in 34 states, including Maryland. This means the Enlist Duo can be applied to Enlist cotton, corn and soybeans on the majority of U.S. row crop acres, once all necessary state registrations are received. The herbicide is a combination of glyphosate and new 2,4-D choline, as well as glufosinate. Tolerance to these three modes of action offers growers more flexibility and better performance in their weed control programs. In addition to controlling weeds, Enlist Duo stays on target. Enlist Duo® herbicide features Colex-D® technology, which provides four key benefits: minimized potential for physical drift, near-zero volatility, low odor, and improved handling characteristics. 

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