Deana Tice on Agriculture in Anne Arundel

What if the fastest way to protect the Bay, feed our neighbors, and inspire the next generation starts with a horse, a pasture, and a plan? In the latest episode of the Pittman & Friends podcast, County Executive Steuart Pittman sits down with farmer and community leader Deana Tice to trace a life in agriculture—from a childhood spent in horse barns and milking parlors across multiple states to running a three-farm equine operation that teaches 150 lessons a week—and uncover what keeps Anne Arundel’s farms alive.

Education takes center stage as we spotlight the CASE program at Southern High and opportunities at CAT North. Deana makes a compelling case for countywide access so a kid who dreams of veterinary school or crop science isn’t blocked by a ZIP code. We dig into the nuts and bolts of soil conservation and why well-managed pastures act like living sponges, capturing stormwater and nutrients before they hit the Chesapeake. And we zoom out to the missing backbone: a Regional Ag Center at the former grain elevator site. Picture a USDA-inspected meat processor, aggregation, cold storage, and a certified kitchen under one roof. For livestock producers, that means shorter hauls and reliable slots. For fruit, vegetable, and grain growers, it means value-added products and better margins. Layer in workforce training, a farmers market, and classrooms, and you’ve got a hub that serves all of Southern Maryland.

If you care about local food, clean water, and open space—or you just love the smell of a barn on show day—this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves farmers’ markets, and leave a review with the one change you’d make to strengthen local agriculture.

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Transcript

Meet Dina And Her Farm Roots

SPEAKER_03 0:10

All right, welcome back everybody to Pittman and Friends Podcast. I'm here today with my friend Dina Tice. Welcome.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Thank you. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

So Dina is not a government employee. Nope. Not a politician, not a candidate to be one, none of those things. Dina's what I call a community leader, but specifically in the ag community. Chair, currently chair of the president of the Anarundal County Farm Bureau, vice chair of our Anarondal County Ag Commission that advises us on ag issues, former leader 4-H, the list goes on and on and on. If you know anything about ag in Anarondal, you know Dina. So welcome. Thank you. So I want to ask you first, before we get into I mean, really what I want to do in this session is to talk about agriculture in Anorondal County, some of the challenges, some of the progress that's being made, some of the opportunities. But first, a little about you. How how did you get involved? Did you grow up on a farm or how did you end up living this life?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

I did. I grew up as a farm kid. At my mother's baby shower, I received my first pony.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Both sets of grandparents had farms in Montgomery County. And while both had equine, they also had production agriculture on their farms too. So I grew up in that diversity of having the equine and production agriculture.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

Okay. Real farming. And then um, so how did you end up in Annerundal County?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Dad was a blacksmith, mom was a horse trainer. And farming, let's just say the farms ended up getting sold in Montgomery County. So we moved from different different farms.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

Your farm now development houses.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Yes. So we moved to different farms, and it was wonderful looking back because I really got the diversity. In third grade, I was in San Antonio, Texas, riding petaphlon horses because my mom was working at that farm. And then later we ended up moving to Missouri and I um helped dad run the 200 sow fairing barn while I was in high school. And then we got into dairy goats, and all my friends out there had uh dairy cattle. So I was in the milking parlors helping them milk so we could get off to the movies or whatever we wanted to do as kids. So then after graduation from high school, I came back to Maryland and graduated from University of Maryland with agriculture and resource economics.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

Wow, you really have to have okay. Okay. Now I know why you they keep putting you in as a leader for whatever the ag issue is. Okay. And so currently you live tell us where you live. You don't have to give the address, don't you?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

I um currently I am a full-time farmer in Harwood.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

Mm-hmm. Okay. And I think people know that I I was farming, I was training horses for a living before I ran for county executive and growing hay and not much good at fixing the equipment. Pro I would say not a very good farmer, so I relied on other farmers to help when things broke. And I was on the Board of Farm Bureau and and the Soil Conservation District. So we know a lot of the same people.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yes, we do.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

So when I became county executive, I had to step away from the Board of Anorundal Farm Bureau, and there was an Ag Commission, and we made a decision that we wanted to reconstitute it so that it was all farmers. It was before it was farmers, restaurant owners, real estate people, sort of a variety, made it all farmers. And I think that's when you came on. Did you come on at the beginning when we reconstituted things?

SPEAKER_01 3:56

And definitions for farming, definitions for ag tourism, which really kicked everything off.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Yeah, yeah. Okay. And I know that one of the re one of the reasons why you've been valuable as an ag leader is that you do well, you have done livestock production, you've done a lot of different kinds of farming, and you have background um ag education as well. But you've actually made I I would say the reason why you're commercially viable is the equine side of it. Is that true? That is true. So you tell tell us what you run in terms of an equine operation.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

So in 2001, I left the farm supply industry and rented five stalls from my in-laws who uh also have their farm in Harwood. And since then we have grown to three farms and a hundred horses, and we teach about 150 lessons a week on those farms and care and manage the equine.

unknown 4:58

Wow.

Equine As A Gateway To Ag

SPEAKER_01 4:59

And I always say equine is really the stepping stone into agriculture. You know, most kids don't grow up on a farm, but there's a lot of kids that came and grew up on my farm and then went to school for agriculture and now are working in the industry. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 5:15

That's interesting. I've noticed that. That kids who maybe grew up in a suburban community or in the city, they fall in love with horses, briar horses, plastic horses, whatever it is. I always say that it's not genetic. It's actually there's this little magical ingredient that gets put into a fetus, and it's by the horse fairy, maybe. I think so. Kids are born in love with horses. It's really strange. And then they just can't get rid of that feeling. And I will say that equine is the the most rapidly growing, is it not part of agriculture in our county?

SPEAKER_01 5:48

It is, especially in Anne Rundel County.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Yeah. We've lost farms. We've lost a lot of farms. We've lost a lot of you know farms that grow crops and grains and things, but added equine.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Yes, that that is true. And equine helps the farmers in our area stay sustainable because they've diversified and started growing hay, and that is helping the equine business locally and helping the farmers stay sustainable as well. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

And I would just add, and I always used to say this, I used to be the president of the Maryland Horse Council, and this is one of my lines, was that the second best thing to a forest for the Chesapeake Bay and for filtering nutrients that go from the rain and then they go eventually into the waterways or down into the water table is a well-managed pasture. That a well-managed pasture absorbs that water, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

That's that's very true. I mean the farmers are the first environmentalist. Farmers only put on the land, what the land needs, and they're great stewards. And soil conservation certainly helps the farmers be good stewards as well. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Let's let's talk about soil conservation first, because that is the place where environmental protection and cleaning our waterways and agriculture combine. And it's something that was created many after the Dust Bowl, right? When when so much land, because of ag practices that were not really protecting the soil, when it was dry, it blew and the Dust Bowl happened. And so all across the country they created these soil conservation districts to protect soil, right? And we have one in Anne Rundel County. And you and your family were designated the conservationist of the year by the Ana Rundal Soil Conservation. So tell us why you were chosen and what you did to to get that designation.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

It certainly was a great honor in 2018 that my husband and I received. We also don't like to see mud.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

We don't like to see erosion.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Farms are a big investment. So we want that investment to stay with us. We don't want that washing downstream, right? So working with soil conservation and learning the different practices that you can do to stop that erosion is very helpful for all the farmers and certainly was helpful for us. And it was a great honor to get that distinction. It's not why we did it, right? But it certainly was nice to be honored.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

And there are programs that I'm sure you participated in some of them to improve the soil conservation by, for instance, having sacrificial pads where you put down stone or something else to protect where around water and gates, right, where the horses congregate because the grass won't grow, so you do that. Or there are programs to fence out streams. It used to be when I was younger, I remember my dad was, of course the horses need to get down to the stream, and the cattle too, you know, need to be able to get down to the stream because that's where the water was. What do you think we're going to put in wells and waterers around here? Um But now people are fenced. There's actually funding to help to get those cattle and horses and other livestock out of the stream because of all the erosion and then all the all the mud that ends up down in the bay.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

That is true. All the farmers have nutrient management plans. We test our soils to find out what they need. And on our farm, we've done the heavy traffic use areas, we've done the automatic waters, we've done the manure storage and the composting. So there's a lot of programs out there, whether you're whether you have livestock or whether you have crops, right? Soil conservation is there to help.

SPEAKER_03 9:33

Yeah. And you're well aware, and so am I, that years ago, it was back when I was on the Maryland Horse Council, we got legislation to get regional composting facilities for horse manure, but also, you know, foods from restaurants and things. And one was awarded to Enronal County, and it was like a political football. It got pushed from one part of the county to the other because neighbors thought it was going to stink. We know horse manure doesn't stink, right? It smells great.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

No, because the ferry dropped in the gene on it. Right. It smells good.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

No, actually, but when you compost it, then the odor goes away. But it's been really difficult to get through that. But we now have Veterans Compost about to open in the southern part of the county so that manure can be shipped there for people who don't have their own on-farm way to process it and restaurant waste as well. So really looking forward to that opening.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

That will be amazing. That will help a lot of farms in the area. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Pastures, Bay Health, And Soil Stewardship

SPEAKER_03 10:23

Yeah, that's been hard. But you mentioned on the Ag Commission, the County Ag Commission, that you are the chair of the Ag Education Committee and that that's where you put a lot of your time. So tell us what you're working on.

SPEAKER_01 10:36

I do. Ag education was important to me growing up. I was a 4-H kid, I was an FFA kid, and I've really seen the benefits to our county when we brought back the ag education at Southern High School. And now we have it up at Cat North. And those those kids are flourishing in those programs. So one thing that I've been working on for a while now, and that is if a child in our county knows that they want to be a veterinarian or knows that they want to do something in agriculture, we want a pathway so that they can get to Southern, so that they could get to the Cat North programs. I've known a girl that uh graduated from South River, great student, went on to school, to college, great grades. She couldn't get into vet school because she didn't have the practical experience. Where had she been allowed to go to Southern and get that practical experience at high school, then we would have another large animal veterinarian in our area, which is desperately needed, right? So that's just one example of of how expanding ag education in our county could be very, very beneficial. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

So we have the program, and I know the program at Southern High is really great with great staff. And the the students are a lot of them are members of FFA, Future Farmers America. But you want to make it accessible to kids who live anywhere in the county, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 12:04

It would be wonderful that any of the the kids in our county that that would have a access to that. I mean, what would be even better than that is that we get ag education in every school, right? Right. Because what's the one thing that everyone needs?

SPEAKER_03 12:18

Food.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Food. Food.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

Uh-huh. Where does food come from?

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Right. So it certainly would make sense that that we have more agriculture education in in all the schools. But until then, let's make a pathway so that they can get to the classes that they need to be successful.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

Trevor Burrus Well, and I will note that some of the kids who are part of the Southern High Case Ag program have been coming to budget town halls and saying, you know, we want in your budget something to make this available for kids across the county. And I know that they're working the school board as well. And I know that Dr. Bedell would love to see it. In fact, in Texas, he said they had really great ag education there, and we have a long way to get to where they were, but he would like to do it too. So I'm I'm hoping that we can figure out a path.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

I'm hopeful too. Certainly Don Pullium on the board has been very supportive. And we're having a meeting on March 26th to bring a lot of people together to talk about ag education and see how we can't build that pathway and expand the schools that have ag education. So I'm excited for that meeting.

SPEAKER_03 13:24

Here's a little story on my end. I went, I think it was last year, to Southern High School and they do a career day where people from outside the school system come in and they do mock interviews with kids in for whatever it is they do. So I was there as the county executive, you know, counting jobs, whatever. And I think I interviewed three or four different kids. One was in the ag program. And he told me, even though it was a mock interview, he said, you know what, I'm really bad at taking tests and I'm generally not a great student. But I joined this ag program and I love working on farms. And now I am like fascinated by all the science about farms. And he gave such a good interview because he was so enthusiastic that I felt like anybody would hire this guy. So he doesn't take tests well.

SPEAKER_01 14:12

That's right. As parents, what do we want to do? We just want to find our kids' passion, right? Yeah. And and once that passion's identified and you can't get them into those classes that they want, it it's very frustrating. Aaron Powell Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

And I've known, you know, when I was on Farm Bureau, there was always a commitment to ag education and even raising money for some of the programs so that they could go and compete in national competitions and things. So thank you for doing that work and stepping up and continuing to advocate for it.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

It's my pleasure.

SPEAKER_03 14:41

Aaron Powell Tell us about the regional ag center, the RAC.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

The regional agent. It doesn't exist. So tell us what it could be. So that is really exciting for agriculture, especially agriculture in all of Southern Maryland, not just Ann Rundel County. There's so many possibilities for that. Currently, Ann Rundel County is only two counties that do not have an agriculture center in their county. So number one, we need it to aggregate services and to aggregate farmer supplies to meet some of those bigger contracts and things like that. We could put education in there, local farmers market. There's so many possibilities. Because that allows farmers to make value-added products that they can then sell. But they have to have that commercial kitchen. So there's so many different possibilities, and I'm so excited to hear the hear the survey results.

Composting, Manure, And Water Quality

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Me too. Me too. Because obviously, you know, w we're not in Iowa where it's just, you know, mile after mile after mile of farms. We are in a suburban developing area. And farming won't exist if it's not commercially viable. And so farmers have had to diversify, and it's everything from agritourism to, as you said, equine, to these value-added where you process some of your crop, some of what you grow, and you're able to then sell it off the farm, and you keep more of the profit rather than putting it out into the into the marketplace where it gets all processed and everybody else gets gets their piece of the of the money. And one of the things is is livestock production, where um I've talked to folks who there's the bison farm, and then there are folks who do cattle, and there are folks who do sheep, and and they can't find a butcher locally that's got room for them that's anywhere near here, and and they have to book it way, way, way in advance. And there was a plan to do down in um uh in Southern Maryland, so all of the Southern Maryland states have thought they were coming together through SMATIC, right? This Southern Maryland Ag Development, to do a processing center for for meat. And so that is one of the needs that's been identified. Do you think that's a good thing? Do you think that would help ag farms in Anarundal?

SPEAKER_01 17:06

I I do. Past history. For 10 years, my three sons raised livestock. Uh they started it as 4-H projects, and then neighbors wanted it and and more people wanted it, and it grew into a big business where they were selling their beef, pork, chicken, and lamb at the local farmers' markets. We had to drive those animals two hours to be processed. Uh-huh. And then it's another two hours back to pick up the frozen product that you have to keep frozen to get back to the farm to be able to put it into your walk-in boxes or whatever. So that's a lot of stress on the animal, str stress on the farmers to make that happen. So something local would be wonderful. And by golly, didn't COVID show us that we need food production locally so that we would be, you know, we can be sustainable in in our local area, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:04

Supply chains were a mess, yeah. And that could happen for all kinds of reasons. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

So uh that kind of a USDA processing center at the regional agenter is very much needed in this area.

SPEAKER_03 18:16

Aaron Powell So for listeners who don't know, the site that we're looking at is what was the grain elevator. Purdue owned it, and they were going to close it down, and there were a lot of grain farmers who were were concerned about that. And the state, state money partnership, and the county acquired it and ran it for a year, and then they had trouble finding an operator, and the demand wasn't enough to meet the cost of running it. And so folks have found other ways to get their grain to market. Some have built their own silos, some have found somebody to truck it to other places, and some have gone from grain to other kinds of agriculture. So we have that site, and there was gonna be a regional ag center in Calvert County or St. St.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Mary's, I believe, is where Somatic was looking.

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah. They had a plan and they had a design and all those things, and things didn't work out with the county. We've we're doing the feasibility study to see whether putting it where the grain elevator is. Um it's a far southern end of our county, right off of Route 4, so it would serve multi-county area. And I know that uh Kevin Addicts, the Act Secretary for the State, is really excited about the possibility of doing this. So fingers crossed that the uh feasibility study says it's feasible and we can take the next step.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Yes, yes, that would be great for the whole Southern Maryland region.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Yeah. Yeah. So let's talk a little about the fair and 4-H. I know that you've been a 4-H leader, your kids grew up in 4-H and had great experiences and turned it into a business, I guess. But for county residents, they hopefully go to the county fair at the county fairgrounds on Generals Highway and just south of Crownsville. Tell us what you do there and and what the experience is like.

Ag Education Pathways For Students

SPEAKER_01 19:58

So the Anne Randall County Fair is a showcase of agriculture in our county. It is a 501c3 organization that is run completely by volunteers. So the yearly maintenance and everything of that property is all volunteers. So this year, September 16th through the 20th, is when the fair will be held. And it's it's a wonderful event for everyone in the county to come out, see the agriculture, see the 4-H and FFA kids with with their animals. Each night will be a different uh species animal show. And at the top of the hill, there's there's displays of the 4-H kids that, you know, anything from cooking to sewing to art i is there on on display for everyone to see. And then of course there's the carnival. Everybody loves the carnival. Saturday night of the fair is the livestock auction, and that's when the 4-H and FFA kids will sell their animals to complete their projects. And uh our our community has been wonderful coming out and supporting the kids, and then they get great locally grown products back back in their freezer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

So um, the auction is fun to go to.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

You see the kids bring their animals out and it's it's a lot of fun, and we certainly have a lively auctioneer, J.D. Cox, that keeps everyone entertained and raised raising their hand for for all the all the kids. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Yeah, yeah. So I highly recommend. You said you say that everybody loves a carnival. I actually don't like standing in line to get on a Ferris wheel. I'd much rather be down at the barns checking out the cool different breeds of chickens and goats. And I've always found that my kids like that like that a whole lot better, too. It's something you don't get anywhere else. Aaron Powell That's right. That's right. So what's the date again, September what?

SPEAKER_01 21:57

It's September 16th through the 20th this year. And the Anne Rundle County Fairgrounds is in Crownsville, right on Generals Highway.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

Yeah, good. Good so everybody show up at that. Another event that you told me that you wanted to mention, the Taste of Rundle Groan.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

Yes, the Taste of Arundel Grown will be August 5th this year. And that's a wonderful dinner event that brings local farmer products and a local chef together for a wonderful meal. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Even local breweries and wineries, right? Yes, breweries, wineries, everything is there to showcase local agriculture. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:37

And that's organized by Anorundal Economic Development Corporation. Shelley Garrett is the staff who oversees the ag part of economic development. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Yes, that's correct. She's our ag specialist. Ag Specialist. Certainly is a great advocate and friend for the farmers.

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Yes, yes. She was at Soil Conservation, and I was on the board and I was so impressed with her that we um when we had that position open, we stole her. And she's done a great job. So what else? We've done okay, so as the Ag Commission, we've done some legislation together. One, the most recent bill was what we call right to farm. Tell us what that what that was about.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

So the right to farm bill is just a notification that if someone purchases a property near a farm at settlement, they will get a a notification that they are buying next to a farm, and they should ex expect some sounds, smells, and other things that come along with farms. So that way they they they know who their neighbors are going to be from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

And when the bull happens to get out and come running.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

That happened to us once the bull got out in the neighbors and it's hard to catch a bull.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Yes, it is. Yes, it is. I've been there as well.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

Talk about deer and crop damage. Because I when I was on the Board of Farm Brewer, I remember it was the number one issue, and I've experienced it myself. We planted alfalfa to grow hay for the horses, and alfalfa is great because it comes, you can get three, sometimes four cuttings, and the deer ate it all up. I mean, we would count 20 deer out there in that one field at the same time just destroying the alfalfa crop. And I know they do it to all kinds of crops. So any thoughts on that, on how to solve that problem?

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Um by golly, have we had conversation after conversation about the deer, right, and trying to solve the problem. But it's really due to the development and the deer are getting pushed into smaller and smaller areas, and there's more and more deer, so they really are becoming a nuisance to the farmers. And some farmers have given up farming certain property because the deer eat all their crops. So they can't stay sustainable in in that area. So as I like to say, if my horses get out or my livestock gets out and goes and damages somebody's crops, then I need to make restitution to them, right? I need to fix that problem. Well, I believe DNR own the deer, and they are not allowing us to be able to, what do I want to say, limit the herd so that the crop damage is is not so bad. Currently, Ana Rondo County Farm Bureau is working on a dough challenge contest where anyone that that gets gets a dough registers it and then we give them a ticket to a drawing, and we're gonna have some great prizes. But DNR won't let us do it, even though it did we we feel we meet the qualifications of the bill that was passed last year. So we're saying we're working on that. Right. I d I just don't understand why we can't take their animals off of our property. That's basically what farmers want, is they want the DNR's deer to be off their property. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_03 26:19

And so farmers can get the crop damage permit that allows them to have unlimited hunting, right? But farmers don't have time to spend all their time hunting.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

They don't have time. They don't have time. And there's there's a lot of qualifications to that and steps to that.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

So it certainly makes sense that we should be able to harvest the deer, get them processed, and then give it to the needy. We have so many people that need good protein. Yeah. And it's they're it's great protein because they're out there eating all the wonderful crops.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

So it's just like raising raising a uh free-range cow. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Regional Ag Center Vision

SPEAKER_03 27:00

So yeah, and it's not like things haven't been done. We actually, James Kitchen in my office earlier in one of our first years did an assessment of all the counties in the region and what everybody does, because they've all got this the especially the suburban counties have have this problem. So we have the managed hunts on county-owned land, and we have and and those, you know, they they do um and we have the hunting season, of course, which people people hunt, but the production, the the the yield, the harvest of deer is down. And so when COVID came, remember, and the and the supply, you know, the it was hard to get meat and the supply chains were broken, we created a program. We took some of our federal COVID money and paid hunters$50 per dough. It's the dough that reproduced for their time and their effort to bring it then to the processor, and we paid the processor, and then all of the meat went to our food bank and we distributed it through food distribution systems, and it was very popular. And uh we were told by the DNR folks that it was illegal. So we went then went to the General Assembly and we said to pass legislation to allow this to happen. And a combination of some hunters who didn't want the population to go so far down. They wanted it to be easier to hunt, which to me is insane. You can sit on your front porch and just shoot all day. And some of the animal rights folks came out and and killed the bill and didn't pass. So we can't do that anymore. And it just frustrates me so much. I know at Farm Bureau we asked for market hunting where there would be, you know, certified um and inspected the deer meat and it could be sold, and that hasn't gotten very far. So it has been very frustrating. We know our Department of Ag would like to would like to protect farmers, and our DNR folks protect the hunters who pay the, you know, who pay for the programs when they buy their ammunition and things and their and their licenses. And the hunters are a strong lobby. And it's frustrating to me that the hunters don't want the population to come down to a a level that's manageable for the farmers, and there's a real gap there.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

So Andorondo County Farm Bureau certainly uh appreciated um your program, and we thought it was a great program.

SPEAKER_03 29:12

Um Yeah, my brother-in-law shot a lot of dough and took them in.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

And then he bought a lot of beer with the money. There you go. But something does need to be done. When we can't produce enough food for people because the deer are eating it, there's a problem. And that's what our problem is here in Anirundo County. And it needs to be fixed, and Ane Rundel County Farm Bureau is certainly working on that. So we hope that we can do a dough challenge next hunting season.

SPEAKER_03 29:42

Yep. Yeah. So let's end with uh well, if there's anything that we've missed that you want to make sure that we talk about, but just if you had any advice for either a you know, a family that thinks they might like to live the lifestyle of you know we see that often. Um move on to the farm and and produce, whether it's for a living or whether it's just something on the side, or young people who want to engage any advice that you would offer.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

Join Farm Bureau. Farm Bureau will is certainly a great open door into the rural lifestyle. I mean, that's what the They're there to protect and promote agriculture and the rural way of life. That certainly will help get things started. And then there's also partnering with with other farmers because the average farmer is our age, so you know, they are getting older, so we do need the next generation coming coming in to to work with that.

SPEAKER_03 30:41

And we have University of Maryland Extension that manages a lot of educational programming, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Yes, their offices are actually up on the Naval Academy Dairy Farm. Yeah, right up there in Gambrels. They do a tremendous, tremendous job up there. There's the 4 Hers raise dairy calves up there. And then there's Kinder Farm Park that 4-H kids can raise animals. That's a county park and it's a Rock Hold Creek Barn down here in southern Anrundel County, where 4-H and FFA kids can raise animals. Yep. Matter of fact, the applications are going out soon for that Rock Hold Barn. So if you want to join 4-H and raise an animal, uh nails the time to get started on that. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

Yeah, that's a county-run facility. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

I just want to mention a few events that we're having this year in the ag community. And one of them is the Ann Rundle County Young Farmers are having the blessing of the harvesters on August 22nd. That is at the Lothian Circle in the field of grace. And that's where you can come out and see those big combines and those big tractors up close. It's a free event. It's also the kick-up. Bless them so they don't break down, right? Exactly. Exactly. It's also a great kickoff for the harvest season.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

And I just want to mention that spring and fall, when the farmers are planting and when the farmers are harvesting, you're going to see those tractors on the roadways and you're going to see those combines on the roadways. Please have patience. They're just trying to get to the next field so that they can produce food for you. So road safety is a big concern as as we have those big vehicles out there. So August 22nd, please put that on your calendar. And then March 28th, also in Lothian, just past the field of grace, is going to be our Ann Rundle County Farm Bureau Young Farmers Auction. So that's where you can come and buy farm equipment and all kinds of kinds of things. If you are getting started in the farming business or want to get started, by golly, you can meet every farmer.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

That is such a hood.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

It always rains. It always rains. Wear your ring cover.

SPEAKER_03 32:58

But it's real auctioneer. They're up on a trailer, they go for and they have all the stuff laid out. So you go out in this field and there's everything from 200-year-old junk that to, you know, some stuff that I mean a lot of it it works generally, but from big tractors down to I remember them auctioning a combine there once, but down to little stuff that that you can use in your garden, and it's just a whole lot of fun, and you can get a hot dog and some hot chocolate. And what's the date of that one again?

SPEAKER_01 33:22

The date of the Young Farmer Auction is March 28th. March 28th. And it's right on 408 there in Lothian. You won't be able to miss it.

SPEAKER_03 33:32

And to get information, do they go to just Google Anrundel County Young Farmers Auction? That'll probably get them there, won't it?

SPEAKER_01 33:38

Yeah, so Maryland, Maryland Farm Bureau website has has the information on it for for that and and all the other events.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

And please join us if you like Anarundel County Farm Bureau. If you like seeing uh Anarundel County rural areas, join Farm Bureau. We need everyone's support. It's a membership organization.

SPEAKER_03 34:00

It's a friendly group of people, too.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

They're a great group.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

All right. Well, thank you, Dina. And um, because we do it this way, you get the last word and tell us what you got to say.

SPEAKER_01 34:12

You are listening to the Pittman and Friends Podcast. If you like what you hear, please hit the subscribe button, share with a friend, and join us for the next podcast.

SPEAKER_03 34:22

Thank you, and keep on farming.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Thank you, I will.