Maryland Agricultural Commission

About The Maryland Agriculture Commission

Vision & mission

Formulate and make proposals for the advancement of Maryland agriculture by serving as an advisory body to the Secretary on matters pertaining to agriculture.

Primary function

The Maryland Agriculture Commission is appointed by the Governor of Maryland and serves as an advisory body to the secretary and deputy secretary of agriculture.

The commission consists of 30 members representing various commodities across Maryland, and includes both a consumer and a University of Maryland (ex officio) representative.

The commission currently pursues the following priorities and activities.
Encouraging the agricultural community to be more pro-active on issues affecting agriculture and rural life.
Evaluating farm/agriculture industry labor and regulations.
Increasing public awareness of food safety.
Supporting the department's efforts to promote agriculture

Statutory authority

2-201-205 of the Maryland Annotated Code.

Members

Each member is appointed to a three-year term, and is eligible to serve two consecutive terms. Members are chosen to represents various agricultural sectors including dairy, food processing, turf, farm market, agritourism, etc.

Commodity	Representative	Email Contact
Ag Education	Dr. Melissa Welsh	[email protected]
Agribusiness	Vacant
Agritourism	Janna Howley	[email protected]
Aquaculture	Johnny Shockley	[email protected]
At Large Ag Service	Frank Allnutt	[email protected]
At Large Ag Service	Stefanie Reiser	[email protected]
Bio-Fuel	Rajneesh (Raj) Kathuria	[email protected]
Consumer	Kellie Hinkle	[email protected]
Dairy I	Vacant
Dairy II	Vacant
Direct Farm Market	Amy Crone, Vice Chair	[email protected]
Equine	Ann Merryman	[email protected]
Farm Bureau	Paula Linthicum	[email protected]
Field Crops	Chris Rhodes	[email protected]
Food Processing	Nikita Bocharov	[email protected]
Forestry	Hunter Pusey	[email protected]
Hemp	Matthew Levi Sellers	[email protected]
Horticulture	Vacant
Livestock	Sean Hough	[email protected]
Nursery I	J. Kelly Lewis, Chair	[email protected]
Nursery II	John Murphy
Organic Farming	Emma Jagoz	[email protected]
Poultry I	Zach Evans	[email protected]
Poultry II	Vacant
State Grange	Richard Stonebreaker	[email protected]
Tobacco	Vacant
Turf	Gordon Kretser	[email protected]
UMD	Dr. Darren Jarboe	[email protected]
Vegetable	Russell Shlagel	[email protected]
Veterinary	Dr. Marianne Bailey	[email protected]
Viticulture	Rachel Lipman	[email protected]
Young Farmers Advisory Board	Jennell Eck McHenry	[email protected]
Young Farmers Advisory Board	Edward Goodman	[email protected]

Meetings

The Commission meets on the second Wednesday of January, March, June, September, and December.

The committees of the Commission meet in February, April, August, and November.

The Commission conducts spring farm tours in May and fall tours in October, educating members on different agricultural operations across the state and elevating regional challenges and successes to the Commission's attention. All 23 counties and Baltimore City host the Commission within a 5-year schedule.

View meeting minutes, presentations and documents.