Publications

SFM-4 outlines conversions of soil test results from various regional soil test laboratories to Maryland's 'Fertility Index Value' (FIV) scale, upon which soil fertility recommendations for agricultural production are based.

Authors: Maegan Perdue - Susan Schoenian

Bottle feeding kids and lambs is a critical skill for small ruminant producers. When done correctly, these animals can grow into healthy additions to the flock. Mistakes in bottle feeding can lead to sick or dead kids and lambs. This factsheet offers detailed instructions on how to properly bottle feed lambs and kids. Authors: Maegan Perdue and Susan Schoenian Title: Bottle Feeding Kids and Lambs (FS-1157)

Authors: Mayhah Suri - Megan Gerdes - Paul Goeringer - Rachel Rosenberg Goldstein

This infographic showcases themost important finding from a survey amongh farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States about nontraditional water use, including water reuse, in agriculture.

Authors: Darren Jarboe - Andrew Kness - Erika Crowl

Many new hires to various governmental agricultural service providers have limited understanding of common agricultural practices, especially those in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Many have strong backgrounds in the environmental or biological sciences, but may have never been exposed to real-world agricultural production. The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA- NRCS) and University of Maryland Extension (UME) believes this gap in practical agricultural production knowledge needs to be addressed in order to keep farms viable into the future and service providers safe when on the farm. Through a partnership and funding through USDA-NRCS, UME developed the Ag 101 program outlined in this curriculum. The basic structure and format of the program could be adapted for other regions of the United States that wish to implement a similar program. Authors: Andrew Kness, Erika Crowl and Darren Jarboe; Title: Ag 101 Curriculum: Agriculture Education for Agricultural Service Providers(EC-9).

Authors: Doris Behnke

The monarch butterfly needs help from all the people and businesses across the country, not just a few. As researchers discover the direct effect of the decline of these amazing insects, we the people need to take action to help correct the problem. The purpose of this Extension Fact Sheet is to help eliminate one threat to the monarchs; uneducated humans. Humans that do not know what the monarch butterfly looks like in the caterpillar stage will oftentimes kill it when they find it in their garden. Knowing what the life stages of the monarch butterfly looks like, and protecting them allows another monarch butterfly to reach maturity, meaning it can then lay more eggs to produce more butterflies. Saving one butterfly at a time. Author: Doris Behnke; Metamorphosis: The Life Stages of a Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed in North East, Maryland ((FS-1144)

Authors: Ginger S. Myers

Meat Marketing Planner: Strategic Marketing for Farm-to-Table Meat Enterprises addresses marketing beef, pork, lamb, and goat, but not poultry processing since it falls under different USDA, FSIS, and state regulations. While many of the key strategies discussed here can be applied to direct farm-to-consumer sales, this publication focuses on marketing farm-raised meats.

The recommendations are intended for the commercial vegetable grower who has to make numerous managerial decisions. Although the proper choices of variety, pesticides, equipment, irrigation, fertilizer, and cultural practices are the individual vegetable grower’s responsibility, it is intended that these recommendations will facilitate decision-making. Recommended planting dates will vary across the six-state region. Local weather conditions, grower experience, and variety may facilitate successful harvest on crops planted outside the planting dates listed in this guide. This can be evaluated in consultation with the local agents and state specialists. Government agencies and other organizations administrating crop insurance programs or other support programs should contact local Extension agents and/or vegetable specialists for guidance. EB-236

Authors: Drew Schiavone

How much energy is used on Maryland farms? The energy used to perform many routine crop and livestock operations may cost your farm several hundred or thousands of dollars each month. On average, 15% of agricultural production costs in the United States are spent on the fuels and electricity used for equipment operation (see Figure 1) as modern agricultural equipment uses a significant amount of fuel and energy. Additional costs arise from the energy used indirectly through petroleum-based products (i.e., fertilizer and pesticides) and through transportation which becomes a concern for more rural farms with products traveling further to markets. The cost of this energy comes amidst growing concerns over low farm profits, rising energy prices in the ag sector (EIA, 2019), and Maryland’s rapidly changing energy environment which requires 50% of the state’s electricity to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2030. The greatest impact of the changing energy market is expected on those farms using a lot of machinery due to their elevated fuel use, and smaller farms that are unable to distribute their energy costs. Author: Drew Schiavone; Title: Understanding Farm Energy (FS-1138)

Authors: Don Webster - Don Meritt - Stephanie Alexander

Remote setting is a technique that uses hatchery larvae to produce spat on shell for planting oyster grounds. The method has been successfully employed as a key part in building the Maryland oyster aquaculture industry. This manual covers system components, operation and management and is used for training new growers and for reference by experienced ones to enable them to produce quality seed for planting leases.

Authors: Dr. Shawna Weimer

Animal welfare is oftentimes housed under the same umbrella as sustainability because improvements in both are viewed as progress towards the future. In other words, any improvement in animal welfare also improves the sustainability of production or potentially has less impact on the surrounding environment. However, the relationships between poultry production and welfare and the impact of production on the environment are complex and difficult to balance