The twenty-first annual Maryland Commodity Classic was held on Thursday, July 25, 2019, at the Queen Anne’s 4-H Park. The event was attended by nearly 300 farmers and industry representatives and featured keynote speaker Jimmy Bramblett, Deputy Chief of Programs at USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service.
During the event, the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board awarded scholarships to four deserving students. Recipients were Alexandra Guy of Hebron, Ethan Miller of Kennedyville, Cody Martin Morris of Parsonsburg, and Jacob Schmidt of Sudlersville. “We had an outstanding group of qualified individuals receiving scholarships this year,” Bobby Guy, MGPUB President. “We need trained professionals to meet the demand for careers addressing issues such as world hunger and food safety, renewable energy, and environmental stewardship. Over $180,000 has now been awarded through our Scholarship Program.”
Also during the event, the Maryland Grain Producers Association awarded two individuals with the Dr. James R. Miller Award, which recognizes an individual for outstanding service to Maryland’s grain industry. The awareness began in 1998 when it was given to Dr. James R. Miller. Since then, grower leaders, as well as elected officials, researchers, and agency representatives have been recognized.
This year’s recipients were Brad Powers, former Deputy Secretary at the Maryland Department of Agriculture, and Valerie Connelly, former Executive Director of Maryland Farm Bureau.
According to those who were there at the inception of the Maryland Grain Producers Association, we probably would not be here today without Brad Powers. In 1976, he began working at the Department of Agriculture as a Marketing Specialist and worked his way all the way up to Deputy Secretary. In his capacity as Assistant Secretary, Brad was integral in the information of the Maryland Grain Producers and served as the Department’s member of the Board.
After his retirement in 2002, Brad did not stop serving the industry. He was involved in the development of two soybean transloading facilities and investigation of potential sites for an ethanol plant in Maryland. Giving back to the community, Brad served as the director of Shore Gourmet, a value-added food business development program. Powers also assisted with a USDA technology transfer project looking into converting chicken feathers into biodegradable plant containers and turfgrass netting. Brad now lives in Carrollton, Georgia with his wife Shari and enjoys vacationing at their home in Tennessee, hunting, fishing, gardening, spending time with his family, and his loyal Labrador Max.
Valeria Connelly has been serving Maryland’s agricultural community for the last 25 years, working for the Maryland Farm Bureau. Serving as Director of Government Relations and most recently Executive Director, Valerie has been involved in every major issue impacting Maryland Agriculture for the last quarter-century and has done an exceptional job representing our best interest. For grain producers, Val has been integral in protecting the privacy of nutrient management plans, retaining access to pesticides, expanding the radius for k-tags, increasing the weight tolerance for grain trucks, ensuring conservation funding and so much more.
While Valeria surely will be missed working directly in agriculture, she will be staying in the area in her new position at Choptank Electric. The Maryland Grain Producers Association suspects that her work there will ultimately benefit our farmers as well. The Association thanks both Brad and Valerie for their many years of tireless service to Maryland’s grain farmers.
The Maryland Commodity Classic is held annually on the fourth Thursday in July and is sponsored by the Maryland Grain Producers Association and Utilization Board, Maryland Soybean Board, and Mid-Atlantic Soybean Association.
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