Queenstown, Maryland (November 4, 2020) – This spring threw a number of curveballs to all! The stay-at-home order in Maryland as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic took effect on March 30th. Marylanders stocked their homes with toilet paper, canned goods, protein, and many other essential items unsure what the future looked like. Grain producers across Maryland, quarantined in equipment preparing seed beds and planting their annual crop without knowing what market prices may look like in the coming months.
Today combines travel across Maryland’s country-side and harvest corn and sorghum row-by-row. Grain in Maryland is primarily used to feed our local chickens, but also has a number of other uses to benefit our consumers directly. One half of one percent of the value of each bushel of corn and other grains produced and sol in Maryland is remitted to the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board’s statutory Check-Off Program. The Utilization Board uses these farmer’s dollars to fulfill its mission to increase the profitability of Maryland grain farming through market development, education, and research.
Each year, organizations, universities, and others submit proposals for the board to review. In 2020, 33 proposals were approved to complete research on corn hybrids and fusarium head blight, educational programs such as MAEF, Farm and Harvest, and LEAD Maryland were funded lastly, building markets through ethanol and national grain organizations. Furthermore, check-off dollars are shared with the Maryland Grain Producers Association, who keeps grain members updated, organize the Maryland Commodity classic, provide student scholarships, share valuable information on social media and the website, and many more tasks to support producers across the state.
Every check-off dollar provided to the Maryland Grain Producers is used to improve our grain industry and markets for years to come.
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The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board was established in 1991 to administer the Maryland Grain Checkoff Program. Grain Producers in Maryland voted to institute this voluntary checkoff program, which is funded by participating growers donating 0.5% of each Maryland bushel sold. With this funding, the board can fulfill its mission to increase the profitability of Maryland grain production and to improve public understanding of agriculture through promotion, education, and research.
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