♪ ♪ JOANNE CLENDINING: From the Potomac to the Mason-Dixon Line and across the bay, there's a truckload of agricultural goodness to be had.

Did you know that grain and livestock farming can have a healing effect?

That lavender fields can save a family legacy?

And crop diversity can save a family fruit farm?

Don't go anywhere.

Stories about the people who work the land and feed our state are coming up next on "Maryland Farm and Harvest."

ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "Maryland Farm and Harvest" is made possible in part by the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, investing in smarter farming to support safe and affordable food, feed, and fuel, and a healthy bay.

Marbidco, helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations.

Additional funding provided by Maryland's Best, good for you, good for Maryland.

The Nature Conservancy, working with individuals, organizations, and communities in the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond.

The Maryland Soybean Board and Soybean Checkoff Program, progress powered by farmers.

The Maryland Pork Producers Association.

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts.

Farm Credit, lending support to agriculture and rural America.

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association.

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated.

The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation, promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

A grant from the Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Fund.

And by a grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Program.

(theme music playing) JOANNE: Maryland agriculture's success is tied to the families who diversify and persevere.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining.

Welcome to "Maryland Farm and Harvest."

We're visiting one of the prettiest farms in Harford County, Pond View Farm.

It's a fourth-generation working farm that's gone through a few changes over the decades.

Originally a dairy farm, it's now a livestock and grain operation, raising purebred Simmental cattle for show and sale.

The Smithsons also have created a splendid wedding venue if you're in the market.

Talk about diversifying.

Coming up, I meet up with a couple who hung up their high-stakes jobs for a slice of lavender heaven.

But first, the McGinnis family has been an integral part of the Maryland landscape for more than a century.

Now, as recipients of the 2025 Maryland Agriculture Hall of Fame Award, their true legacy extends far beyond the 1,600 acres they tend.

♪ ♪ Just after sunrise, on a farm that's been in the family for generations, Jay McGinnis preps his corn planter for another season.

JAY McGINNIS: This is a new variety they just came out with this year, so we'll see how it does.

The tricks are to go to church every Sunday, and ask the good Lord for rain, because that good rain makes a good farmer out of any person.

JOANNE: The story of McGinnis Family Farm begins more than a century ago.

WAYNE McGINNIS: My name is Wayne McGinnis, and this is the McGinnis Family Farm, which we bought in 1880.

My great-grandfather bought it.

So Jay is the fifth generation, and his son is the sixth generation to run the farm.

JOANNE: After decades of raising a variety of livestock, Wayne shifted to row crops and beef cattle in the 1960s.

Then, when a neighboring farm was sold to a developer, Wayne saw the writing on the wall and helped launch Maryland's Farmland Preservation movement.

WAYNE: So several of us got together and began exploring the possibility of said, farmland preservation.

All the county would've been developed if we hadn't got involved.

JOANNE: That work, and the decades of leadership that followed, defines the McGinnis family's legacy of preserving Maryland's farmland for future generations.

But in 1998, the farm's leadership was suddenly in question, and passing the torch happened sooner than anyone expected.

JAY: I was a mortgage broker.

I had my own mortgage brokerage.

Uh, so I wanted to get as far away from the farm as possible.

Had no aspirations to ever come back.

JOANNE: Jay was building a career far from the farm until his father's health scare pulled him back.

JAY: It was very urgent.

He had a heart condition, and he thought maybe he might not make it till the end of the year, and thankfully, he's made it 28 years.

JOANNE: Today, Jay farms roughly 1,600 acres of corn, soybean, and hay.

But there was one part of the operation Jay wanted no part of.

JAY: I wanted nothing to do with the cattle.

I hated the cattle, hated the hay, hated silage, hated feeding them, hated vaccinating them, hated taking care of them, hated everything about it.

JOANNE: But once Nicole came into his life, she changed everything.

NICOLE McGINNIS: I fell in love with it.

Our first dates were going in the combine during harvest, and I loved that way of life.

JOANNE: So when Wayne could no longer manage the cattle on his own, the knowledge didn't go to Jay.

It went to his daughter-in-law, Nicole.

NICOLE: And my father-in-law was so kind enough to let me ride around with him and learn about them.

JOANNE: Under Wayne's tutelage, Nicole went from being intimidated by them to managing the McGinnis cow-calf operation.

NICOLE: Hi, girls.

JOANNE: And she literally has them eating out of her hand.

JAY: Little piggies.

NICOLE: She is.

JAY: Her relationship with animals of all types is truly unique.

She's the "Snow White" of, of the farm world.

She goes anywhere, and the cats follow her, and the birds land on her shoulder, and the cows come up and kiss her on the cheek.

NICOLE: Come here, buddy.

JAY: So, she's special.

NICOLE: All gone.

JOANNE: Today, the McGinnis's are rounding up the herd for routine veterinary care.

(mooing) NICOLE: I like the veterinary aspect of it.

I am taking care of over 80 pregnant mamas during the year, and it's very fulfilling.

JOANNE: For Nicole, the cattle have also been part of her own healing, following a connective tissue disorder that led to more than two dozen surgeries.

NICOLE: I have to get up every day and take care of the cattle.

I cannot stay inside and think about any pain I'm in.

And without the cattle, I truly can't imagine what I would be doing or where I would be.

JOANNE: The herd serves a larger purpose, too.

Cows that can no longer be bred are processed into ground beef and donated to local food banks and churches.

NICOLE: There's way more to these girls than a dollar sign.

So that's why I do it, to give back to others what they have given me.

JOANNE: The spirit of philanthropy and investing in the future has remained a guiding principle for the McGinnis family.

WAYNE: Each generation has given up a lot to carry on what they're doing, and it's a source of, of pride to be able to see the next generation.

They had to give up things.

They had to give up other opportunities in order to come back.

JOANNE: For a lifetime spent preserving Maryland farmland, and a family determined to pass that legacy on, the McGinnis family now takes its place in the Governor's Agricultural Hall of Fame.

JAY: It's not about just all the money.

It's about the sacrifice, and the heritage, and preserving it for future generations.

JOANNE: More than a century, one farm, and a family determined to keep it growing.

For Jay and Nicole, a passion for working the land and caring for animals drives their deep respect for the past while planting seeds for the future.

And did you know, the most recent USDAcensus reports that Maryland is home to 2,295 cow-beef operations, Almost all of which are cow-calf farms.

All right.

It's time to test your inner agronomist.

Here is our thingamajig for the week.

You think you know what it is?

Well, here's a hint.

This tool was likely the first step to making your jacket, and don't try and dissuade me.

Stay tuned, and we'll have the answer at the end of the show.

There are times when I gaze out across the farm and think, "Wow, it's like a painting."

And artists have had that same thought.

Here are a few of our favorite viewer submissions of those works of art.

Enjoy.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Sometimes life's greatest adventures begin where you least expect them.

I visited a Maryland couple who traded high-stakes careers for a new calling.

Transforming an historic farm into a thriving home for regenerative agriculture, lavender, and wine.

JEFF MILLER: Nine generations of our family have lived and worked here.

CLAUDINE MILLER: And never, ever did I see farming in my future, but it's the best thing I've ever done.

JOANNE: Nestled alongside the Patuxent River sits Dixon Family Farm, where Jeff and Claudinne Miller are growing lavender and wine grapes.

But the couple didn't set out to be farmers.

Jeff is a Marine, and Claudinne worked for the NSA.

So how did stewarding 55 acres become the marching orders for these two service members?

Your farm is absolutely stunning.

JEFF: Oh, thank you.

CLAUDINNE: Thank you.

JEFF: Thank you so much.

This really wasn't in our plans.

We were living in Germany, and we thought we were actually going to be sent to Italy, and my parents passed away, and we inherited the farm, and we found out that we did not want to be the generation to let it go.

CLAUDINNE: Yet we have zero farming experience.

JEFF: Yeah.

JOANNE: Oh my gosh.

So how did you know what to do then?

CLAUDINNE: Google.

My search was, "How to be a farmer at 50."

JOANNE: Oh my gosh.

But Google didn't prepare them to inherit a farm that was dry and nutrient-starved after two centuries of tobacco farming.

To replenish the soil, they turned to a menagerie of animals to restore organic matter.

CLAUDINNE: Come on, lamb.

Come on, lamb.

Come on, lamb.

We didn't intend to be a rescue operation, but it's sort of working out that way.

We bought our first couple of sheep to do some lawn mowing, fertilizing, but then people were finding us on Instagram and saying, "Hey, I saw you have a donkey.

Could you take these other two rescue donkeys?"

I said, "No, we're full.

We're just starting out."

So they're here.

JOANNE: That worked well.

You've got a big heart, I can tell.

With rejuvenated soil and advice from the county extension, the Millers decided to grow grapes, a decision that was deeply personal.

This looks great.

You can see the grapes already.

Is it going to be a good harvest?

JEFF: Everything's looking like it's going to be a good harvest.

Our first harvest in 2024, took our grapes and we sold them to the Port of Leonardtown Winery.

They made a wine with our grapes and some others that won the best wine in Maryland competition.

JOANNE: Wow, that's awesome.

Congratulations.

JEFF: Yeah.

JOANNE: What made you decide to do grapes?

JEFF: My father had been a sommelier, and he had brought a French wine maker here who looked at the soil and looked at the climate and said, "This would be a great place for wine grapes."

So my dad had always meant to do it, passed away before he was able to, so I put these in to honor my dad.

JOANNE: That's amazing.

While the whole of the Dixon Family Farm is quite beautiful, I have to say, their lavender fields are the showstopper, but it took a lot of work.

JEFF: Getting the conditions right, it's taken us a couple of years to figure out in a couple parts of our fields what's wrong.

Lavender needs well-drained soil and dry roots and a neutral pH.

You have to get the conditions right, and then it's simple.

JOANNE: Now the crop is thriving, and with just days before market, I hit the fields with Claudinne to harvest lavender.

CLAUDINNE: So when we cut the blooms off, we're going to cut it down to the shape of the bush, which is called the habit.

So I just grab a handful like this and just skim along the top.

Try not to grab any bees.

JOANNE: I was going to say, do you get stung at all?

CLAUDINNE: Frequently enough to be a little PTSD.

Would you like to try some?

JOANNE: Yeah, let's give it a try.

Tip is watch for the bees and don't get it too close to your hands.

Perfect.

JOANNE: Nice.

And you just have to make sure you get as much stem as possible?

CLAUDINNE: Uh, yeah, just follow the contour of the plant.

JOANNE: Oh, yeah.

Which I wasn't doing.

I was giving it a bad haircut I think.

After the harvest, the Millers load the lavender into a copper still to extract the oil, which will be used in their line of soaps, botanicals, and natural oils.

There's a lot of chemistry involved.

Fortunately, Claudinne has a very specific set of skills.

Wow, this looks very science-y in here.

CLAUDINNE: It's my own laboratory.

JOANNE: Nice.

CLAUDINNE: It actually stems from a job I had.

I worked drug enforcement for a while, and we took down methamphetamine labs.

JOANNE: What?

CLAUDINNE: I know, crazy.

So we had to go to a lot of schools to learn how to actually cook meth, so when we did a search warrant and entered the lab, then safely shut it down so it wouldn't blow up.

And in that process, I learned to love chemistry and science, and I brought all the knowledge I learned there back here to my own soap lab.

JOANNE: That's pretty incredible.

I don't think I know anybody who knows how to take down a meth lab.

From drug enforcement and marine operations, to "Breaking Good" with their lavender, it's clear that sometimes the unexpected can be the most rewarding.

CLAUDINNE: My husband and I were both working crazy jobs, saving the world, doing various things, and, um, it turns out, after working for something so big, something as small as handing somebody a bouquet brings me more joy than anything I've ever done before.

JOANNE: It is said that where lavender grows, peace follows.

And after my visit with Jeff and Claudinne, I concur.

Although lavender is usually associated with the South of France, Lavender season in Maryland runs from April to August.

English Lavender, one variety grown at Dixon Family Farm, is known for repelling mosquitos.

Coming up, Al visits an orchard for his summer fruit fix.

But first, from the fruits and vegetables on our tables, to the crops that feed livestock, pollinators are essential partners in agriculture, making possible the food we enjoy while sustaining healthy farms and thriving ecosystems, both then and now.

♪ ♪ Long before tractors, combines, or even written history, pollinators were helping shape agriculture.

As early humans began cultivating crops thousands of years ago, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other pollinating insects were already moving pollen between flowering plants and helping agriculture take root.

Ancient Egyptians managed honeybees in clay hives, while generations of farmers relied on wild pollinators to support orchards, vegetable gardens, and seed production.

By the early 1900s, beekeepers transported hives to help pollinate crops across entire regions.

Today, pollinators help produce roughly one out of every three bites of food we eat.

Countless crops depend on their work, making pollinators some of agriculture's most important partners.

But pollinators face growing challenges from habitat loss, pests, disease, and changing weather patterns.

In response, farmers, scientists, and conservationists are working together to create healthier landscapes that support both agriculture and pollinator populations.

From the dawn of agriculture to today's modern farms, pollinators have helped feed the world.

Their story is woven into the history of farming itself, and their future remains essential to ours.

With farming, every season brings its own challenges.

On this week's "The Local Buy," Al visits a Cecil County orchard where innovation, diversification, and a warm welcome are helping to weather the uncertainties of nature.

Al?

AL SPOLER: You can go to any grocery store and buy apples, cherries, or blueberries, but there's a certain singular sweetness to fruit that you pluck fresh from the bush.

And here at Milburn's Orchard, there is so much fruit to pick from.

And this farm is much more than a you-pick, with a farm market, playground, kitchen, and more.

But it takes a fifth-generation farm family to keep it running smoothly.

CALEB MILBURN: I don't know, man.

They're hanging on here pretty good.

COLBY BARKLEY: Yeah.

CALEB: Excited to have some customers come out and pick this weekend.

AL: Together, family members Caleb Milburn and Colby Barclay keep this orchard flush with fruit.

CALEB: I mainly take care of the harvest and production of all the fruits that we grow, just from tree to consumer.

COLBY: This year, I guess you could call it a nightmare.

I've never seen anything to this extent as far as damage with crop loss.

AL: In April, a frost swept through Milburn, leaving branches bare and apples damaged.

Colby, I'm looking at these trees.

At first glance, they look pretty healthy, but I bet there's still scars from the frost.

COLBY: Beginning of April, we had warm temperatures in the mid-80s or so to start April off, and then about a week and a half later, we had a really hard freeze on April 20th.

AL: And this unexpected freeze in the midst of the fruit's bloom killed off all their cherries and damaged most of their apples.

COLBY: And I'll show you here, and you'll be able to see very easily.

When the apple was set and blooming, and that frost came, that cellular damage that set in, and that's that marking you see.

AL: So the frost caught it at its most vulnerable moment.

COLBY: For sure.

For sure.

AL: Yeah, boy.

Thankfully, Colby and the Milburn's had thought ahead and planted a wide variety of fruits.

COLBY: 60 acres of apples, which contains close to 20 varieties.

We have about 40 acres of peaches.

A small five-acre plot of cherries.

AL: Mm-hmm.

COLBY: And a smaller, maybe two-acre plot of berries.

AL: The ripening season is staggered, so customers can come out to pick fresh cherries in June, peaches in July, and apples in August.

CALEB: We try to diversify as much as we can, and, you know, we start in June with cherries, um, and then we start blueberries, like, late June, and then we go into blackberries.

AL: Looks like the frost skipped right over this portion of the orchard.

COLBY: Luckily, we did miss the frost with our berries.

AL: Yeah.

With a slightly later bloom, the blueberries had avoided the frost altogether.

COLBY: But this, this right here brings us full circle back to our conversation on diversification.

AL: A conversation that doesn't end with growing you-pick fruit.

After getting pushed out of the wholesale market by larger farms, Milburn Orchards came up with other ways to bring in the customers.

CALEB: So we're trying to get into a lot of different events, and that's definitely what we're trying to do to make up for this year.

AL: To make sure they're not putting all their fruit in one basket, they've built a vibrant agritainment business.

(Playful screams).

Complete with playful goats.

KID: Do you want to be in the photo?

AL: And what might just be the best apple cider donuts in Maryland.

Now, you're the donut master.

How long you been doing this?

EVAN MILBURN: Oh, 35 years or so.

AL: Holy moly.

EVAN: I made the recipe myself.

AL: Really?

Evan Milburn concocted the recipe for these popular donuts and taught grand-nephew Caleb everything he knows about farming.

CALEB: So, I was going to say something smart, but I'm like, "I'm not going to say anything smart."

But I was going to say he was stubborn, but I won't say that.

AL: And if a little stubbornness in the family recipe keeps this farm going in the hardest of times, the next generation is prepared to keep this farm running for years to come.

I think it's a rare year where everything works out perfectly.

CALEB: Yep.

Yep, this whole Mid-Atlantic region got hit pretty hard with the frost.

AL: Well, I think this would be a great year for people in Maryland to really come out and support their farms and enjoy some of this stuff.

I can tell you, it's a lot of fun.

CALEB: Mm-hmm.

AL: And what I'd like to do is put a lot of the information about Milburn Farms on our web site so people can look it up and make some travel plans.

For "The Local Buy," I'm Al Spoler.

Joanne?

JOANNE: Thanks, Al.

Be sure to check out mpt.org/farm for all our recipes and resources.

Plus, you can watch all "Farm and Harvest" episodes there as well.

Also, don't forget to follow us on social media for show updates, pictures, and videos.

Now, hold on, we're not done yet.

Remember our thingamajig?

Did you guess it?

Our hint was this tool was likely the first step to making your jacket, and don't try and dissuade me.

This is a hide scraper.

It's used in leather working to scrape the hide of any unwanted skin or hair in preparation for tanning.

Congratulations if you got it right.

Join us next week for another thingamajig, along with more stories about the diverse, passionate people who feed our state.

I'm Joanne Clendining.

Thanks for watching.

ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "Maryland Farm and Harvest" is made possible in part by the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, investing in smarter farming to support safe and affordable food, feed, and fuel, and a healthy bay.

Marbidco, helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations.

Additional funding provided by Maryland's Best, good for you, good for Maryland.

The Nature Conservancy, working with individuals, organizations, and communities in the Chesapeake Bay region and beyond.

The Maryland Soybean Board and Soybean Checkoff Program, progress powered by farmers.

The Maryland Pork Producers Association.

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts.

Farm Credit, lending support to agriculture and rural America.

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association.

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated.

The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation, promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

A grant from the Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Fund.

A grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Program.

The Campbell Foundation.

And by the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

♪ ♪