Maryland honors forestry innovator

One-thousand acres of woods on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland will be named for the state's first forester, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Fred W. Besley first began his tenure as state forester in 1906 after having been tapped by the first leader of the U.S. Forest Service. The Maryland Board of Public Works voted Wednesday to affix Besley's name to forestland in Dorchester County.

The state of Maryland was the nation's third state to establish a program for forestry, which occurred while woodlands in Maryland were being consumed for purposes including settling, farms and industrial production.

Besley devoted 36 years to calling attention to conservation, both private and public. He also conducted inventories of state forests while promoting efforts to reforest and reigning in forest fires. Besley also grew Maryland-owned forest system from 2,000 acres in 1906 to at least 100,000 acres by 1942. The amount of forest owned by the state of Maryland today stands at 138,000.

The innovator worked and owned the five wooded tracts of land that will take on the name Fred W. Besley Demonstration Forest, which Maryland purchased in 2010.

Delaware ag secretary: Encourage legal immigrant labor

The U.S. agriculture industry has been a saving grace since the financial tumult of 2008 and the Delmarva Peninsula is in a perfect position to capitalize on that boon, states a column penned by the secretary of the Delaware Agriculture Department.

Despite the successes, there are focal points that call attention to the struggle, according to the November 9 column in the Daily Times authored by Ed Kee. Poultry and livestock require feed that is expensive and is soaring in price.

Yet the industry also is doing its part to contribute to responsible caretaking of the Chesapeake Bay, Kee writes.

"I believe all agriculture asks for is fairness and recognition that we are leaders in the Bay restoration," the editorial states. "Agriculture is not an enemy of clean water; indeed, it has proven to be the most aggressive sector in improving water quality."

Kee also argues for the value of immigrant labor, underscoring the value of legal immigrant labor for harvesting fields, milking cows, processing chickens and assisting with feeding the nation.

If the nation does not encourage legal immigration farm labor, the country's food supply will be disrupted.

MidAtlantic Farm Credit to host Ag Progress Days Bus Trip

For more information contact:
Sandy Wieber, VP Marketing
800.333.7950 or swieber@mafc.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Westminster, MD) – MidAtlantic Farm Credit, an agricultural lending cooperative, announced its annual bus trip to Ag Progress Days on Wednesday August 18. The event is coordinated by MidAtlantic and the University of Maryland Extension.
MidAtlantic will be providing six buses picking up from seven locations throughout their Maryland territory. Locations and pick-up times include:

• Centre at Salisbury, Salisbury at 5 a.m.
• Rt. 50 & 404 Park & Ride, Wye Mills at 6:15 a.m.
• Cecil College, North East at 6 a.m.
• Mill of Whiteford, Whiteford at 6 a.m.
• Hereford Park & Ride, Parkton at 6 a.m.
• Carroll Ag Center, Westminster at 6 a.m.
• 1775 Monocacy Blvd. Park & Ride, Frederick at 6 a.m.

The cost for the trip is $20 per person, and includes the bus, and dinner, along with some snacks on the bus. Customers can register at www.mafc.com or by contacting Farm Credit at 888.339.3334.

Ag Progress Days is Pennsylvania's largest outdoor agricultural exposition. The three day event runs from August 17 – 19 and is sponsored by Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. In its 34th year it is one of only three agricultural exhibitions in the country sponsored by a major University. With over 400 exhibitors from 31 states and 4 provinces of Canada, Ag Progress Days has something for everyone.

MidAtlantic Farm Credit is an agricultural lending cooperative owned by its member‐borrowers. It provides farm loans for land, equipment, livestock and production; crop insurance; and rural home mortgages. The co‐op has over 10,500 members and approximately $2.3 billion in loans outstanding. MidAtlantic has branches serving Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. It is part of the national Farm Credit System, a network of financial cooperatives established in 1916 to provide a dependable source of credit to farmers and rural America. For more information, visit mafc.com.