♪ ♪ HOST: From the mountains to the shore, Maryland's a planter's paradise.

Did you know there's a farm in Charles County named for their never-say-die attitude, that show cows need a diva do, and that beef can be dry, and mouthwatering at the same time?

Don't go anywhere.

Stories about the people who work the land and grow our food along with The Local Buy are coming up next on Maryland Farm & 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... Additional funding provided by... Maryland's Best: Good for You, Good for Maryland...

Rural Maryland Council, a collective voice for rural Maryland... MARBIDCO: Helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations... A grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Program... Farm Credit: Lending Support to Agriculture and Rural America...

The Maryland Soybean Board and Soybean Checkoff Program: Progress Powered by Farmers... Wegmans Food Market: Healthier, better lives through food...

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts... CHILD: The Maryland Agriculture Educational Foundation promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

ANNOUNCER: And by...

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association...

The Maryland Seafood Marketing Fund...

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated...

The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment... And by... Closed Captioning has been made possible by Maryland Relay, empowering those who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled to stay connected by phone.

♪ ♪ HOST: Since, the very first farmer furrowed the fields here, Maryland agriculture has run rich in history and tradition.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining.

Welcome to the 10th anniversary season of Maryland Farm and Harvest .

That's right, 10 years.

And it's been an amazing, fun-filled romp through Maryland's bucolic fields, pastures, and barnyards.

Today, we're visiting Kinder Farm Park, named for the German immigrant family who ran a cattle operation here since the turn of the last century.

The farm was donated to Anne Arundel County in 1979 to help preserve farm history.

Speaking of history, coming up, we'll look back to season two and revisit a sisterhood of cowgirls.

But first, Maryland farmers know that conservation is key to protecting resources for the future.

But this next farming family takes stewardship to the next level.

♪ ♪ It's early morning on the Potomac River where father and son team Francis and Kevin Warring are gathering the day's catch.

As watermen, they have an invested stake in what goes into the river.

But as farmers, they can have a direct impact on it.

KEVIN WARRING: And when I think about water quality, I think about the Chesapeake Bay.

I think about being out here on the river catching crabs and oysters.

So to me, what we do on the farm affects what happens here in the river, and you know, that's a little extra motivation to kind of do our best.

JOANNE: If the conservation efforts on the Warring's 245 acre farm are any indication, they're more than just a little motivated.

At Persistence Creek Farm where they grow commodity crops like corn and soybean, every decision is made with an eye towards preservation of natural resources.

That includes no-till practices to reduce runoff, crop rotation to preserve soil quality, and large-scale projects like the installation of riprap to help prevent erosion.

KEVIN: So, this is riprap.

It may just look like a pile of rocks, but you can see it's actually the edge of a larger fortification here at the stream crossing.

So, these rocks serve as a purpose to hold the ground here to prevent significant erosion.

That erosion, as we know if it gets downstream, you know, causes issues with water quality.

JOANNE: To further limit the amount of sediment and erosion into the Potomac, the Warring's also utilize riparian buffers.

This area of tree and shrub growth captures nutrient runoff from the nearby crop fields while also providing shelter and food for fish and other organisms.

FRANCIS WARRING: It just kept improving, better and better as we went on.

Now, it's...I mean, it's indescribable.

Some farmers might call it weeds, but we call it habitat.

(laughs) JOANNE: And the Warring's are doing plenty to provide habitats for all creatures great and small.

After planting five acres of native wildflowers and grasses, Persistence Creek Farm has seen an increase in butterflies, bees, and even wild turkeys.

KEVIN: One of our ideals here is that we try to take some of our least productive land for agriculture and maximize it for wildlife.

This area was traditionally a little bit wet and hard to plant, and so this was an ideal spot to really kind of devote to a practice like that.

JOANNE: That balance between agriculture and wildlife even factors into the Warring's timber management.

To reduce crop damage from deer, they created a patch opening in their forest canopy that lets sunlight onto the forest floor to promote vegetation and biodiversity.

KEVIN: Its purpose in life is to kind of reset the shot clock.

If you look down on the forest floor, sunlight has come here and vegetation is starting.

Deer damage is a problem for farmers, right, and so creating habitat like this allows them to have food inside the interior.

So that's one cool reason that we like it.

That's going to reduce the amount of crop damage that we see out on our crop fields.

JOANNE: And when Kevin sees that the deer are eating in the forest and not his corn, it's a pretty good feeling.

KEVIN: For us, it's that taking a vision and turning in into action and seeing your fruits of your labor on the ground.

JOANNE: Persistence Creek Farm is all about trying new things and not being afraid of what you don't know.

And it's that mentality that Kevin's wife Lauren used to start her own side project.

LAUREN WARRING: Beekeeping was just one of these things that me and a couple girlfriends, we were like, "You know what?

We should try beekeeping.

It would be so great to have our own honey.

It'd be so great to help out with the pollinators."

We just went all in.

Farming is a challenge.

Whether, it's beekeeping or whether it's learning about streams and waterways, it's a challenge.

But it's also a chance to try something new, do something that's out of your comfort zone.

And this is just something that I really wanted to just try.

And is it for me?

I hope so.

If it's not, then we'll learn that along the way too.

All right.

JOANNE: The Warring's approach to sustainability has led them to improved yields and productivity in the present, but they're really looking beyond today.

KEVIN: We know that as farmers our job is to feed the world, but at the same time as stewards of the land, right, our land ethic is sort of, runs deep through us.

And we take very great care of the land knowing that it's not just for us today, but for the future generation tomorrow.

JOANNE: And while, Francis and Kevin might be handling the day- to-day farming duties, all of the Warring's are contributing to making this a farm about family.

TRACEY WARRING: What makes this farm special is that it is an idea of the future.

And I think that we all are working together to try and create a place for our children and their children.

JOYCE WARRING: I just think that a farm, it just teaches children right and wrong and also teaches them how to love.

FRANCIS: Hopefully, they pick up what we're trying to teach them at a young age, to learn the value of conservation, so when they take my spot in life, they'll keep on moving with conservation.

KEVIN: You can't force, you know, 40 years of knowledge onto a seven-year-old.

And it's by giving them life experiences, taking them out, letting them take pictures in the flowers, or take them out on the boat just to go fishing.

It's all those piece parts that you are building in from the beginning.

I think that's the approach that our family's trying to take with our kids.

JOANNE: Persistence Creek Farm was awarded the very first Maryland Leopold Conservation Award, named after renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, for the diversity of their conservation and production practices.

And did you know buffer zones provide crucial wildlife habitat and corridors where animals can move freely and they assist in controlling erosion, especially along streams, rivers, and wetlands?

♪ ♪ 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.

It's used on ears, but not to improve your hearing.

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

There's not too many views on the farm better than when the sun breaks through a pasture's morning mist or when the day ends with a brilliant display of color.

Here are some of the best pics of sunrises and sunsets from farms all around the state.

Enjoy.

♪ ♪ In celebration of our 10th season, we hit the rewind button to season two when the show cattle world fell in love with a sister act.

♪ ♪ They come from all corners of the country hoping all those hours spent raising, feeding, and grooming their cattle will pay off.

The Junior National Hereford Competition is usually held out West in cattle country.

But this year, the hundreds of young competitors will take the ring in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Winning cattle can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, so it's not all about bragging rights.

MELISSA GRIMMEL: And this is probably one of the biggest Hereford shows in the world.

So, it's a lot of quality and a lot of competition.

JOANNE: Melissa Grimmel and her nine-year-old sister Maddy are about to take the ring with a two-year-old cow named Caroline and her calf Carlee.

MELISSA: This morning, I'm very exhausted.

It's been a long week.

But I'm very excited at the same time just to see how our cattle do compared to everyone across the country.

JOANNE: Everyone here knows success doesn't start in the showroom.

♪ ♪ For the Grimmel girls of Jarrettsville, it was born in the barn, back home in Harford County.

And it's grown from the hard work of five sisters, not just two.

MICHELLE GRIMMEL: We live and breathe showing cattle.

First thing in the morning until we go to bed at night.

Everything's about the cattle.

(spraying water) JOANNE: And that's not an exaggeration.

They're in the barn several times a day, feeding, brushing, and washing the cattle.

MICHELLE: We brush their hair to stimulate their hair growth.

Makes them fluffier, so we do this several times a day.

JOANNE: That's Michelle.

At 33, she's the oldest.

And that's Kristen in the gray.

And there's Lindsey.

You could call Kristen's two-year-old daughter Ella a Grimmel girl in training.

KRISTEN GRIMMEL: Our age range is crazy.

We go from 33 to nine, so it is very hard to find things in common when you have that kind of age range.

But the farm is it.

MELISSA: Through showing cattle, my sisters and I have a bond like no other.

JOANNE: The Grimmel girls got their start back in the early '90s when Michelle and Kristen joined 4-H. Their dad was busy with his grain farm and their city girl mom didn't know much about showing cattle.

So, they had to learn on the own by watching and asking questions.

KRISTEN: When Michelle and I were old enough, our parents would just drop us off at the show.

I think, a few people thought we were orphans.

But we were fine.

We would get dropped off.

Dad would hand us some money and we would be good.

MICHELLE: Everyone called us the "Grimmel Girls."

"Oh, there's the Grimmel girls."

So, we kind of played on that, and that's why we're Grimmel Girls Show Cattle.

JOANNE: Their first project was a heifer named Rosebud.

KRISTEN: I remember it like, it was yesterday.

We were just over the hill and my dad takes her off of a trailer and it was instant love.

JOANNE: When Michelle and Kristen became too old to show, they passed on everything they learned to their sisters.

MELISSA: I got Champion Steer.

Champion Market Lamb.

Champion Pig.

JOANNE: As they started winning more and more, they started marketing their cattle online.

JACOB WOLFREY: It's got a lot of oil in it.

It's good for their hair.

JOANNE: When Michelle's fiancé Jacob Wolfrey came along, they made him their manager.

But the Grimmel girls are still a sister act at heart.

LINDSEY GRIMMEL: My favorite part is spending time with them, whether, we're in the barn working or you know, working at the shows.

MADELYN GRIMMEL: It's nice to have four sisters because like, if you need any help and if one of them doesn't know, then the other one might know.

JOANNE: The cattle stay under fans all day to stay cool, so their hair grows.

The longer the hair, the fluffier the animal and the more likely it will win.

MELISSA: People kind of think, oh, Maryland, it's on the East Coast.

East Coasters don't have good cattle.

Yes, they do.

So, we want to really represent ourselves well.

JOANNE: Back in Harrisburg, the Grimmel girls are setting out to prove Maryland can hold its own when it comes to cattle.

The cattle get a wash, brush, and blow dry.

Then they're groomed to show off their best features.

MELISSA: So, we have tail adhesive.

It's like a heavy hairspray but for cows.

So, we spray it and brush it up.

And what we're trying to do is to kind of pop their hair and to make their leg bigger so it looks like they have bigger bone, which is a quality you want them to have.

You ready?

JOANNE: Now that Caroline and Carlee are prepped, Melissa and Maddie head into the ring.

The whole family is here watching, including the girl's father, who was able to sneak away from the farm for the morning.

MELISSA: Going into the show ring, it's a mix of feelings.

It's really cool because I can look behind me and my family's standing there.

And they have my back and I know I'm not alone.

JOANNE: This time the whole Grimmel clan has something to celebrate.

Caroline and Carlee beat out 42 other cow calf pairs to be named Grand Champion.

MELISSA: It's just really emotional because a lot of blood, sweat, and tears are put into it.

Just all of the hard work, and then it's for this moment.

And then when it pays off, it's just the best feeling in the world.

JOANNE: A feeling best shared with sisters.

We visited the Grimmel girls over eight years ago and I'm happy to report they're all still at it.

They're second in the nation for Hereford cattle in genetic sales.

Michelle and her husband Jacob run the Jarrettsville operation.

Jacob's bringing home numerous awards and national titles, including Hereford Herdsman of the Year.

Kristen and her daughter Ella, who's now 11, are continuing to show.

Lindsey and her family are in Uniontown, Pennsylvania selling show cattle.

Melissa moved to Manhattan, Kansas and opened Grimmel Schaake Cattle Company.

And young Maddie is now a high school senior and killing it in the show ring with many champion banners under her belt.

Congrats, Grimmel girls.

The Coastal Plain of Maryland, otherwise known as "Chesapeake Country," has held a long and rich agricultural history.

The region's settlers cultivated its shores producing the finest products, both Then & Now.

♪ ♪ Let's travel back in time to almost 3,000 years ago when early inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay were some of the first to ever farm on the land.

These early settlers evolved into three well-known tribes, the Susquehannock, living in the North, the Piscataway residing in Southern Maryland, and the Nanticoke, taking the Eastern Shore.

As time went on, the tribes learned to domesticate animals and cultivate crops.

One of the greatest advances for the native tribes was the cultivation of new crops like squash, beans, tobacco, and corn.

When Europeans arrived here in the 17th century, they adapted farming techniques from the Native American tribes already working the land.

Those techniques have influenced many of the farming methods used today.

The Bay region was rich in natural resources and the European settlers quickly took advantage, plying the waters for seafood and working the land along its shores.

Before long, they expanded operations with exports to European markets while also supplying food to the New World settlements, like Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Today, there are more than 83,000 farms in the six states that form the Chesapeake Bay watershed, a fertile land of untold bounty.

And just like its humble beginnings when its first inhabitants settled here thousands of years ago, the land and its farmers continue to grow the foods that sustain us.

The Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding land was and still is crucial to our agriculture here in Maryland.

When the weekend calls for some succulent steaks that will surely please the crowd, Al Spoler knows just where to go on this week's The Local Buy.

Al.

♪ ♪ AL SPOLER: If you've ever been around a bunch of people grilling steak, you know there's no shortage of opinions on how to get the job done, but there's something they all agree on and it's that dry-aged, grass-fed beef is the way to go.

We're here in Hunt Valley in Northern Baltimore County at John Brown General & Butchery where dry aging is an art form.

Owner Robert Voss is passionate about whole animal butchering and dry aging his beef.

And what does dry aging do?

ROBERT VOSS: Over the time, we are reducing water content as it evaporates out of the protein itself, and that intensifies flavor.

AL: The process begins when their butcher makes his regular delivery, dropping off four sides of beef which have been cut into quarters.

The store's team of butchers break down the meat into somewhat smaller cuts suitable for dry aging.

It's hard work that requires considerable expertise.

When the cuts are ready, they go into a special humidity-controlled locker for the dry aging treatment.

ROBERT: This is our dry aging locker.

We kind of have a color degradation as it goes through the process.

This is our earliest delivery.

And then it goes through week by week.

So, every delivery, it drops down to the next shelf, and then down to the next, and down to the next.

All we're doing is getting rid of the excess water weight.

AL: Without excess water, the meat remains succulent and juicy.

And after about three weeks, it's ready for sale.

But I can't figure out how they get those nice-looking steaks out of those great big old chunks of meat.

Butcher Ben Sawyer lets me watch while he cuts finished steaks out of a huge piece of meat called the "drop loin," home of sirloins, T-Bones, and tri-tips.

All that stuff comes out of here?

BEN SAWYER: Yes, sir.

AL: And you can visualize it, you know where it is and everything?

That's amazing.

To me, this looks like an alien life form.

(laughter) Ben wrestles with the meat, knife slashing away in just the right places.

As scraps of fat are discarded, the drop loin starts to take shape.

Over here, that's somewhat familiar.

BEN: Sure.

AL: But I'm not sure what it is.

Ben keeps trimming, cutting away that most annoying bit of spine, the chine bone.

And then, all of a sudden... Oh, it's really starting to look like something now.

BEN: Yeah.

AL: Look at that.

BEN: We'll clean it up.

AL: Yeah.

BEN: Put this to the side and trim it out.

AL: And then, the moment of truth, one last cut and a perfect strip steak emerges.

ROBERT: There we go.

AL: That is amazing.

ROBERT: Nice, beautiful strip steak.

AL: That's what I call a strip steak.

This is just incredible.

This is absolutely beautiful.

And look at the marbling on it.

It's very, very nice.

ROBERT: Yeah.

AL: And it's thick.

ROBERT: Yeah.

Nice.

AL: Thank you, Ben.

ROBERT: Of course.

AL: That's the way I like it.

ROBERT: You got it.

AL: Every Friday the dry-aged beef is put out on display and customers flock to John Brown's meat case, which looks like something out of a museum.

They ogle over beautifully cut steaks, roasts, and chops.

One thing that surprised me were the number of beef cuts I've never heard of.

I've got some homework to do.

Owner Robert Voss tells me he's very particular about how farmers raise the beef he buys.

It has to be grass fed all the way.

At Grand View Farm in Harford County, owner Nick Bailey is 100 percent committed to raising his cattle on grass.

NICK BAILEY: Grass-fed beef can be a lot tastier than grain-fed beef.

Seems that we found a sweet spot and that we can produce grass-fed beef that's not only delicious, but has the marbling that we're used to.

And since, the cattle are raised for much longer periods of time on the pasture, we think that, that leads to a tastier product in the end.

AL: It's the perfect union.

Grass-fed, dry-aged beef, a recipe for success at John Brown Butchery.

Robert, they tell me this is exactly the New York strip that we cut this morning.

ROBERT: It is.

Yeah.

AL: And somebody was nice enough to fix it for me.

What do they do for it?

ROBERT: Pan roasted.

So, seared in a pan, flash in the oven, and then we pull it out.

We baste it out to finish in a bit of butter, rosemary, and garlic.

AL: Nice.

And that's perfectly medium rare, the way I really like it.

ROBERT: I hope so.

AL: When I was younger, I used to think that I had to have a great big steak because I'm a great big man and all that stuff.

But actually, I find myself eating smaller portions these days.

ROBERT: Yeah.

To each your own.

If you like a big steak, have at it.

But we think, an appropriate portion size is about six to eight ounces.

AL: Really?

ROBERT: Yep.

AL: And that's about how much here.

ROBERT: Yes, sir.

AL: Wow, that's great.

What I'd like to do is get information about your shop and put it on our website, so people can read it and maybe come visit.

ROBERT: That'd be great.

We'd appreciate it.

AL: Well, good.

Look for it at mpt.org/farm and learn more about this wonderful place.

For The Local Buy, I'm Al Spoler.

Joanne.

JOANNE: Thanks, Al.

Be sure to check out mpt.org/farm for all our Local Buy recipes.

Plus, you can watch all Farm & 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 that it's used on ears, but not to improve your hearing.

It's a corn kernel remover or sheller.

You open up the sheller, you close it over an ear of corn, and give it a twist.

This was when you only needed a small amount of corn shelled at a time.

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.

Closed Captioning has been made possible by Maryland Relay, empowering those with hearing and speech loss to stay connected.

♪ ♪ 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.

Additional funding provided by... Maryland's Best: Good for You, Good for Maryland.

Rural Maryland Council, a collective voice for rural Maryland.

MARBIDCO: Helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations... A grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Program... Farm Credit: Lending Support to Agriculture and Rural America...

The Maryland Soybean Board and Soybean Checkoff Program: Progress Powered by Farmers... Wegmans Food Market: Healthier, better lives through food...

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts... CHILD: The Maryland Agriculture Educational Foundation promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

ANNOUNCER: And by...

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association...

The Maryland Seafood Marketing Fund...

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated...

The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment... And by... ♪ ♪