In 2024, the Utilization Board Funded 16 grants at $420,750. Read about the 2023 check-off funded grants success below!

LEAD Maryland

  • Funded $40,000 in 2024.
  • LEAD Maryland identifies and develops leaders to serve agriculture and rural communities by providing educational, training, and personal growth opportunities for program participants, called Fellows. Curriculum is delivered to Fellows primarily through a series of multi-day seminars and an international study tour. Fellows learn more about public issues, hone leadership skills, and expand professional networks.
  • A new class of 23 Fellows met for their first seminar in February of 2024. Fellows completed additional 3-day seminars in April, June, and September, with each seminar hosted by a different region within Maryland. In September, Fellows explored more in-depth the Chesapeake Bay watershed, restoration, and conservation. Later in their fellowship they will be learning about Maryland’s grain industry and the relationship to the chicken industry. Learn more about LEAD Maryland online here.

Road Safety Campaign | Maryland Soybean Board

  • Funded $30,000 in 2024.
  • The Maryland Soybean Board embarked on a Road Safety Campaign to address the growth of dangerous encounters between motorists and drivers of slow-moving vehicles on public roads in response to their Rural Road Safety Study. Implementation of this community awareness campaign calls attention to the unique measures required to drive safely near farm equipment and similar slow-moving vehicles. Utilizing the campaign www.FindMeDriving.com website and affiliated social media platforms, safe driving messaging were shared. A Tractor College for farmers and their employees was conducted to disseminate information on legal requirements and best practices for operating farm trucks, machinery, and slow-moving vehicles. Educational materials, featuring the campaign mascot SAM, were distributed at community events statewide. With supporting partners, the overall campaign has reached millions of drivers through billboards, public exhibits, social media, and online advertising to decrease the amount of, cost, and severity of farm vehicle-related crashes on Maryland roads.

Providing FFA Program Incentives

  • Funded $14,500 in 2024.
  • The 2023 MGPUB Grant helped the Maryland FFA Foundation provide valuable educational and leadership experiences for students. Funds were also used to support Career Development Events, convention speakers, and workshops for the Regional Leadership Conference. Students benefited from these funds by testing their skills, hearing from outstanding speakers, and exploring new ideas and leadership skills.

My Maryland Farmers | Maryland Soybean Board

Maryland Envirothon

  • Funded $5,000 in 2024.
  • Educating tomorrow’s decision-makers on the importance of conservation is vital to the health of our agriculture, natural resources, and the Chesapeake Bay. The 2023 Maryland Envirothon helped students become more involved in protecting natural resources by challenging their problem-solving skills and instilling a sense of stewardship in these future leaders. Statewide, over 500 students participated and check-off funds were presented as scholarship checks to each student on the first, second, and third-place teams at the conclusion of the event.

Kids Growing With Grains | University of Maryland Extension

  • Funded $1,000 in 2024.
  • The Washington County 4-H Youth Development Program, a part of the University of Maryland Extension, presented an agricultural education and literacy program for all schools in the county. The program is made available to all schools in Washington County as an in-person, field trip and now, a fully online, virtual, bitmoji classroom piloted in early 2022. This program reached 531 students in 2023 and provides over 3,186 contact hours to educate youth about grains. The program is comprised of five sessions that are designed to educate youth about the importance of agriculture, the utilization of grains in the diets of people and livestock, the nutritional value of whole grains, and how to identify food products made from grains. Learn more about the program here.

Maryland Farm and Harvest | Maryland Public Television

  • Funded $125,000 in 2024.
  • A multimedia series that puts a human face to farming, Maryland Public Television aired its eleventh season this year! Viewers travel the state to see and experience what it is like to run a 21st-century farm. As MPT’s #1 rated regional show, Maryland Farm and Harvest has attracted over 15 million viewers. You can view these segments every Tuesday at 7 PM or online here.

Mobile Science Lab & Showcase | Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation

  • Funded $8,000 in 2024.
  • The Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation conducts numerous programs throughout the year in an effort to increase the ag literacy of Maryland’s students, educators, and citizens. MAEF’s Amazing! Maryland Agriculture Showcase engages consumers of all ages at fairs, festivals, and other large events across the state. Seven schools, reaching 4,500 students, in six different counties, took advantage of rebooking sponsorships in addition to a showcase visit. Check-off funding also supported three fairs allowing fairgoers to view the many aspects of agriculture. To support agriculture education, purchase an ag tag for your vehicle! Learn more here.

Close Encounters with Agriculture

  • Funded $7,000 in 2024.
  • Working with the University of Maryland Extension, Close Encounters with Agriculture is an in-person field trip program designed to promote and increase the understanding of agriculture among urban youth and their families. The program is intended for public and private school 4th-grade students in Montgomery County and reached 3,492 students in 2023. The program demonstrates the inter-relationships and positive aspects of production agriculture, nutrition, and the environment. Learn more here.

Junior Achievement

  • Funded $20,000 in 2024.
  • Junior Achievement of the Eastern Shore hosted the 2023 JA Inspire event on March 14th and 15th, welcoming over 4,500 eighth grade students and more than 120 businesses, organizations and institutions throughout the Eastern Shore. Students from the public, private, and homeschool arenas participated in the event which aimed to showcase career opportunities in students’ backyards. Vendors provided hands-on interactive activities while detailing what type of education and skillset is required to thrive in each respective field. Learn more about Junior Achievement and their work here.

Lower Shore Doe Harvest Challenge

  • Funded $5,000 in 2024.
  • The lower Eastern Shore counties of Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset Farm Bureaus held the annual Doe Harvest Challenge during the 2024 Maryland firearms deer season, January 5-7. This contest was initiated to incentivize hunters to kill does during the late season hunt. For the 2024 contest, three $1,000 prizes for each county were awarded and all processing fees were covered for deer being donated to the Maryland Food Bank. This years contest brought in 262 deer, with some deer being donated to the Maryland Food Bank. 

Other Funded Grants

  • Queen Anne’s County FFA Chapter was funded $700 for a field trip to Atlantic Tractor and Fair Hill Farms in Chestertown, MD.
  • Nationwide was funded $25,000 to secure three grain safety tubes across the state of Maryland in 2024. Check-off dollars supported three new tubes in 2024 and conducted one re-training at the Maryland Commodity Classic.