♪ ♪ JOANNE CLENDINING: From the Potomac to the Mason-Dixon line and across the bay, Maryland is a producer's paradise.

Did you know that crops and soil can have a symbiotic relationship?

That water is the secret sauce at this farm, and this cheese will have you bleating for more.

Don't go anywhere.

Stories about the people who work the land and feed our state are coming up next on, "Maryland Farm and 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.

A grant from the Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Fund, 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.

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association, the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts.

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated, the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation.

Promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

The Maryland Pork Producers Association proudly works to educate consumers and advocate for farmers.

Taste what pork can do.

JOANNE: Maryland farmers are on the forefront of innovation while clinging to their agricultural traditions.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining.

Welcome to "Maryland Farm and Harvest."

In this episode, we look at how farms have innovated to achieve success, including here at Star Bright Farm in Whitehall.

What was once a farm lost to time.

Owners Helen Norman and Mark Elmore brought it back to life, offering a retreat-like atmosphere with lavender fields, herb gardens, and a cozy French-inspired farm market.

Come visit.

Coming up, a hydroponic farm serves up innovation with automation, but first, you may not think of cover crops as being particularly innovative, but between soil health, weed suppression, and nutrient management, just for starters, cover crops are a farmer's secret weapon.

As far back as the ancient Greeks and Romans, farmers have been using cover crops to improve soil fertility.

Native Americans and even George Washington saw their benefit.

And in order to protect the largest estuary in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay, modern-day Maryland farmers have carried on the tradition.

But what actually is a cover crop?

SARAH HIRSH: A cover crop is anything growing during the non-cash crop growing season.

And typically they're not harvested at its core.

You think about cover crops as covering the land, preventing erosion, holding that soil in place, but also at a real basic level.

You could think about a cover crop as just a plant growing to harvest resources that would otherwise be lost.

JOANNE: Sarah Hirsch of the University of Maryland Extension Service knows that cover crops are one of the best defenses in protecting the Chesapeake Bay, but she also believes that they can be an offensive strategy to improve the growing conditions on the farm.

To that end, she has launched the Bonus Cover Crop Program, a research project that develops site-specific plans for farmers.

SARAH: Does it tend to be wet, dry?

You have any particular weeds out there that you're concerned about?

STEPHEN KRASZEWSKI: Yeah, uh, it's a little heavier ground and it... SARAH: Okay.

STEPHEN: Uh, yeah, it-it requires a little different, uh, treatments and different management than some of our other ground.

JOANNE: Sarah meets with farmers to discuss the challenges unique to their farm and to make suggestions tailored to solving them.

SARAH: If a farmer has maybe ten fields, those fields are gonna be different.

They're gonna have different issues, they're gonna have different histories.

You're gonna be growing different cash crops on those fields, so they shouldn't all have the same cover crop.

JOANNE: Maryland already has the highest percentage of land covered by cover crops in the entire nation, but farmers like Stephen Kraszewski appreciate the tailored approach that the Bonus Cover Crop Program offers.

STEPHEN: We are using mostly the, a singular species mono-crop.

So just say, just rye for, for weed control, and just a single species of legume, crimson clover, to grow our nitrogen for our corn.

But there's a lot of other options out there.

And the Bonus Cover Crop Program allowed us to experiment and find a way to make our operation more resilient.

JOANNE: Stephen and the team at Mason's Heritage Farm are growing 900 acres of organic corn and soybean, and they're using cover crops not only for soil health, but also logistical benefits.

STEPHEN: They expand our windows of opportunity at any given time.

Planting season, we get rain.

We need to be able to get on the ground.

If I have cover crops growing in the ground, it's soaking up the moisture, makes that ground more available to get something done.

And we try to manage our cover crops like we do our cash crops.

JOANNE: Over in Cecil County, farmer Bryan Racine has his own challenges.

He's growing corn, wheat, and soybean on hilly land that makes storms problematic.

BRYAN RACINE: I think it's like 40 miles an hour when a raindrop hits the dirt.

So we had a lot of erosion, a lot of washouts, uh, a lot of things where, you know, you make a gully and you know, you come out after the winter if good snow and you know, it's two, three feet deep, you know, so now you gotta fill that back in, you know, and that just takes time and money and energy.

So I feel like just having the cover crops helps to alleviate a lot of that.

JOANNE: Bryan has over a dozen different cover crops in his fields to prevent erosion, add nitrogen, and improve soil health.

SARAH: So a lot of farmers have been able to try things that they probably wouldn't have otherwise.

It is a grant-funded project through NRCS and National Fish and Wildlife with two different grants, so we're able to provide some cost share to farmers, so that allows them to try things out that they may have been hesitant to, um, take that risk otherwise.

JOANNE: The amount of cover crops have improved the growing condition on Bryan's farm, but he's not the only one enjoying the diversity in the field.

Bryan lets his neighboring farmer graze his cows on his fields when they're in cover crops.

BRYAN: So I put some more grasses in here for the cows to come and eat.

And then, so I could get some free manure here 'cause this is what's gonna build your organic matter.

Help break things down, help grow better crops... Phew, smells like money.

JOANNE: The added organic material from the cows, coupled with the benefits of the cover crops, has Bryan optimistic that he'll see a yield bump in his corn.

Today, he'll plant the corn in the cover crop, which he'll then terminate later.

BRYAN: Since I'm planting into, uh, either living cover crop, it's hard to see, you know, just a couple inches of opening when you're in three-four foot tall rye.

You gotta pay attention to your row cleaners making a good opening.

Are, are you getting enough down pressure that there's the gauge wheels are staying down on the ground?

Is there all the seeds coming out?

You know, I don't have any monitors or anything, so it's all mechanical.

Here's looking to a successful season for Bryan.

Meanwhile, back at Mason's Heritage Farm, Stephen is terminating his rye cover crop Earlier in the month, he planted soybean directly into the live field, and by roller crimping the rye, he'll have an effective weed cover, further maximizing his cover crop.

STEPHEN: We wanna open up the canopy for the soybean to grow.

What we want to do is take this machine and knock this down and crimp it so we have the soybean that'll want us to come back up.

The rye will stay down and cover that ground, reduces erosion.

It also reduces sunlight and drops the temperature a little bit.

Keeps the weeds uncompetitive.

JOANNE: It's Sarah's hope that more farmers will join the Bonus Cover Crop Program to improve the growing conditions across the state.

And she encourages farmers to not be afraid to experiment.

SARAH: What works where you are, and no bulk on cover crops, is as good as seeing them in the field and trying them on your operation.

JOANNE: Whether it's to improve organic matter or help farmers improve the bottom line, Sarah Hirsch is excited to continue her work that helps find solutions to cover crop management.

All right, it's time to test your agricultural expertise.

Here is our thingamajig for the week.

Do you think you know what it is?

Well, here's a hint.

This tool has something in common with an egg.

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

Fall is a busy time on a farm, but it's also arguably the most beautiful when those fall colors come to peak.

Here are some of our favorite picks of those colorful days.

Enjoy.

♪ ♪ (chirping).

When longtime friends grew tired of the DC rat race, they traded their suits for seedlings and set out to make a hyper-efficient, techno centric lettuce farm.

♪ ♪ Here in rural Frederick, an unusual idea has been growing.

Under five acres of glass is a greenhouse the size of an airport hangar.

ALI SHARIFZADEH: So this is definitely a new field.

The culmination of technology now, uh, has taken place where it's conducive for lettuce to sort of take that step just like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers did.

JOANNE: And this system may use 90% less land, 80% less water, and almost none of the fertilizer runoff of traditional farms.

And while the facility is more spaceship than barn, it churns out just as many heads of lettuce.

ALI: It's anywhere from 140,000 to 150,000 per week.

JOANNE: In 2017, Ali Sharifzadeh was joined by his brother, Ibraham, and childhood friend Jason Stern to found District Farms, a significant departure from their previous lives as attorneys.

ALI: I have an undergrad in electrical engineering and-and a law degree, so does actually, uh, Ibraham, and, uh, Jason also actually has a law degree as well.

JOANNE: But they left the legal world behind and began designing a system rooted in algorithms.

ALI: So we did some digging and we found out that most of the greens, over 90% of it actually comes from, uh, California and Arizona.

And we found there's actually a way to grow it locally.

JOANNE: And they founded this greenhouse operation with a unique directive... efficiency through automation.

ALI: These systems are moving to a fully automated route, and that's what we're doing iteratively at our facility.

JOANNE: Starting with the manufacturing of peat plugs or small cylinders of compressed material ready to receive each seed with mechanical precision.

ALI: Believe it or not, we still have plenty to do as far as automation.

We have a lot of ideas on how to increase output, um, using pretty much the existing, uh, labor force that we have.

JOANNE: Some elements of this farm still need to be managed by hand, including the transplanting of seedlings into metal troughs.

IBRAHAM SHARIFZADEH: After we've seeded and germs, then we transplant into the troughs in our growing systems.

JOANNE: But even the troughs are carefully optimized.

IBRAHAM: Such that we can grow, uh, full heads to maturity.

Uh, so we give it enough space in between each of the plants.

JOANNE: In other words, each hole in the metal trough is positioned to allow for the maximum growth of each lettuce head.

ALI: Technology provides you with the capability to output so much higher, uh, yields in a smaller areas.

JOANNE: And on either side of each trough is a tube designed to circulate nutrient water to the plant.

IBRAHAM: And so the water will come out of these emitters.

The roots will capture, you know, soak up essentially what-what they need, and then the rest fall into the gutter on the opposite side, and then it gets captured and recirculated back.

JOANNE: So the unused water is captured, filtered, treated, and then recirculated throughout the facility.

IBRAHAM: And so we don't actually lose any water like you would in a field-grown environment.

JOANNE: And as the plant grows, it makes its way down an automatic conveyor system.

Each aspect of its growth carefully controlled until harvest.

One step yet to be automated by District Farms.

ALI: You've quadrupled, right, your actual growing area.

The biggest challenge becomes not necessarily just growing it, but how do I harvest and pack all of this that I'm growing?

JOANNE: But automating these steps presents its own unique challenges.

The high energy usage of the equipment, the initial investment cost, and... ALI: It's, it's still somewhat of a new field.

And so you could, uh, some people have referred to it as, uh, "Wild, Wild West."

When we were starting out, you know, there was different theories on actually how to grow within, grow lettuce within a greenhouse.

JOANNE: On the East Coast, lettuce is still typically grown outdoors, not in automated systems like this.

At this scale, District Farms is one of the first to try and has proven its efficiency.

A partnership with produce supplier, Mastronardi, has enabled the farm to ship over 15,000 heads of lettuce daily to grocery stores across the state of Maryland.

ALI: Our thesis is that, you know, what happened with tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, or as, as we sort of term it, "TPC" will inevitably happen with lettuce, and we also have, uh, are-are looking to expanding elsewhere as well in a more highly automated manner.

Based on everything we've learned here, uh, in order to meet the demand in this area.

JOANNE: Built by lawyers and run by machines, District Farms is a far cry from your average farm, but its efficiency, less land usage, and less water waste may be tough to argue with.

There may be just five acres under those glass panes, but with an innovative process and dreams of robotic harvesters, District Farms may be planting the seeds for an exciting future.

And did you know the earliest example of hydroponic practices date back to the sixth century and the famed hanging gardens of Babylon.

Then, in the 10th century, the floating gardens of the Aztecs.

Coming up... AL SPOLER: That's great.

JOANNE: Al is the goat among goats.

AL: There you go.

JOANNE: But first, bovine genetics have a profound influence on an animal's traits, and understanding these variations help farmers improve health and productivity.

On this week's "Then and Now" we look at how the science of genetics has evolved.

Cows might seem like everyday farm animals, but behind every moo is a 10,000-year story of evolution, survival, and science.

It all began with wild Aurochs, large, powerful ancestors of modern cattle.

Around 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, humans in the Fertile Crescent, the Indus Valley, and parts of Europe began domesticating them.

They selected animals that were calmer, easier to handle, and useful for milk, meat, and labor.

Fast forward to the 18th and 19th centuries, modern agriculture ramps up.

Breeders begin to systematically choose animals for specific traits like higher milk yield or faster growth.

FARMER: Come on, baby.

JOANNE: Then came a game changer.

Artificial insemination introduced in the early to mid 20th century.

It allowed top bulls to father thousands of calves globally, spreading elite genetics faster than ever before.

Today, scientists can now read a cow's DNA to predict how well it'll produce milk, resist disease, or adapt to climate stress.

Genomic selection means smarter breeding, faster progress, and healthier herds.

From wild Aurochs to high-tech herds.

Cow genetics have come a long way.

It's a powerful example of how humans and nature shape each other from then to now.

(sniffing).

On this week's, the "Local Buy" Al tries his hand at milking dairy goats to make goat cheese truffle balls.

Yum.

♪ ♪ AL: I'm here in Rohrersville, Maryland, at Caprikorn Farms, the longest-running goat dairy in the state.

In fact, it's one of the largest goat milk-producing operations in the entire country.

Now, this originally was the dream of two self-proclaimed ex-hippies.

ALICE ORZECHOWSKI: Back in the seventies, my husband and I, we wanted to move to the country and I wanted animals.

And my husband said, "No, horses eat money."

Cows were too big, we really didn't want pigs, so we ended up with goats.

Haven't looked back ever since.

AL: The Caprikorn herd is overseen by Scott Hoyman and now totals over 200 Saanen goats, a breed known for their friendly personality and prolific production.

SCOTT HOYMAN: Saanen are the Holsteins of the dairy goat world.

The heaviest milking dairy goats in the United States.

AL: Is that right?

SCOTT: Alpines are the closest.

And we have the heaviest milking Saanen's in the United States.

We ship baby goats all over the world.

Taiwan, Nepal, Russia, you name it.

The fact that Caprikorn-bred goats can be found around the world is even more impressive when you consider that Maryland barely had a dairy goat industry when Scott and Alice began.

SCOTT: In Maryland, what few goats there were would gather a couple times a year and have a goat show, and the prettiest goat would win.

But we come from an accounting background.

We value people by what they do.

We value goats by how much milk they make, not how pretty they are.

AL: Oh, look at you.

ALICE: We sell breeding stock to dairies.

The USDA publishes this elite list every year of animals with their milk production.

And if you look at like the first 30 does listed on the list, 29 of them are ours.

AL: When it's milking time, goats will be herded up and held in a pen until it's their turn for the milking parlor.

ALICE: Come on in.

AL: Come on, girls, come on.

You know what to do.

Come see Uncle Al.

Look at this good grain.

Look at this good stuff, yeah.

The goats line up to enjoy grain in the relief of being milked in this reverse herringbone system.

ALICE: Herringbone is the animals are on an angle... AL: Right?

ALICE: And it's a reverse because we're looking at their faces, not their butts.

We prefer looking at their faces.

AL: Their pretty faces, yeah.

Once the teat cups are placed onto the goat, vacuum suction runs the milk through a pipeline system where neither human hand nor air ever touch the product.

With 65 goats needed to be milked, the process is neither quick nor easy.

So, 65 goats, twice a day?

ALICE: Twice a day, 365 days a year, even on your birthday and Christmas.

AL: That's commitment.

Each goat will produce a gallon of milk that can be used in products like goat milk soap or artisanal goat cheeses called Chévre.

Caprikorn's Corporate Chef, Catherine Forrence, also uses the Chévre to make culinary treats like chocolate truffle balls using their orange blossom cheese.

Catherine, I have to confess, I have a weakness for little chocolatey bundles of goodness.

And I understand you make a very special chocolate treat.

CATHERINE FORRENCE: We do.

We make our goat cheese chocolate truffles, and you're gonna make them actually, today.

AL: Holy Mackerel.

The first step is to mix together four ounces of melted chocolate and one package of Caprikorn goat cheese.

Okay.

How's that look?

CATHERINE: That looks good.

So we're just gonna refrigerate it... AL: Okay.

CATHERINE: To let it, um, stiffen up a bit before we roll it.

AL: Mm-hmm, it'll be easier to handle, I guess.

CATHERINE: Yeah.

And we have one here.

AL: Oh, the magic of television.

The chocolate and cheese mixture is then rolled in the bite-sized balls.

Here, that was a, that was a better one.

CATHERINE: I think that one's good.

Okay.

We're getting better.

AL: Yeah, we are.

CATHERINE: The last step is just dusting them with cocoa powder.

AL: Just gonna, there you go.

CATHERINE: Do that.

And I, you know, and then roll them around.

AL: Roll 'em around.

Yeah.

CATHERINE: So you can roll them around.

AL: I'm Good at that.

Well, look at this.

That's really amazing.

Very nice.

CATHERINE: I know.

Well, you're gonna have to try one.

AL: Oh, I'd love to.

I'd love to.

CATHERINE: Well, what do you think?

AL: Well, first of all, I made these; I'm very proud of that.

So let's see.

Oh my, okay.

What I'm getting is the kind of the bitterness of the cocoa powder.

Then it hits the sweetness of the chocolate, then it hits the, the tartness of the, of the, of goat cheese.

And then there's little pieces of, of orange in there.

All this stuff is in this one little truffle.

It's really delicious and I made it myself.

CATHERINE: You did.

AL: How about that?

And you can make it yourself because we're gonna put the recipe on our website at mpt.org/farm so you can try it.

For the "Local Buy," I'm Al Spoler.

Joanne.

JOANNE: Thanks, Al.

Be sure to check out mpt.org/farm for all our recipes and resources.

Plus, you can watch all "Farm and 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 "this tool has something in common with an egg."

This is an oxen yolk.

Get it, yolk?

This would be worn by an ox, horse, or cattle and allows the animal to pull heavy loads, carts, and wagons.

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.

(music plays through credits).

ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "Maryland Farm and Harvest" was 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.

A grant from the Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Fund, 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.

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association, the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts.

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated, the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation.

Promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

The Maryland Pork Producers Association proudly works to educate consumers and advocate for farmers.

Taste what pork can do.

♪ ♪