Maryland Farm Bureau Celebrates 94th Gathering

OCEAN CITY, Md. — Patricia Langenfelder of Kennedyville (Kent County) became the first female president of the state’s largest general agriculture organization during the 94th Maryland Farm Bureau Annual Meeting and Convention at the Clarion Resort Hotel in Ocean City. She will lead almost 33,000 member families, along with First Vice President Chuck Fry of Tuscarora (Frederick County) and Vice President Jim Steele of Woodbine (Carroll County.)

Over 350 attended the gathering December 6 to 9, 2009, where members celebrated record-high membership and program achievements, took time to learn and share ideas and established policy for the coming year. Outgoing MFB President W. Michael Phipps of Owings (Calvert County) presided over the event and was honored for his leadership over the past three years.

Silver Bowl
The event was also highlighted with the annual awards banquet where Baltimore County took the coveted Silver Bowl award for its outstanding program work in the past year. President Keith Wills accepted the honor.

Baltimore County was one of eight counties to receive gold ratings in all six of the program areas. The honors are given for member benefits/membership, legislative affairs, women’s leadership/agriculture education, young farmers, leadership development, and outstanding county Farm Bureau program. The other seven top-rated counties were Anne Arundel, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s and Talbot.

In order to earn an award in any of the six program areas, county Farm Bureaus must submit an essay explaining how the program is communicated to members, what is the member involvement, what are the goals and planning activities and what were the results of the program and activities. The awards were judged and given a score and ranked gold, silver or bronze.

The top-scoring counties in each of the program areas were presented President’s Awards for their results and innovation. Honored counties were Baltimore for leadership development; Frederick for women’s leadership/ag education and outstanding county program; Cecil for young farmers; Dorchester for legislative affairs; and Queen Anne’s for member benefits/membership.

Distinguished Service
The Distinguished Service to Farm Bureau Award was presented to Mildred Darcey of Prince George’s County. A Farm Bureau member since 1958, the honoree and her late husband, Roland, had farms in four counties - Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, Charles and St. Mary’s. In nominating Mildred, Prince George’s Farm Bureau Board members said she was the backbone of the county organization from 1972 to 1990, during Roland’s tenure as county president.

Mildred has since served on the Governor’s Growth Commission, the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation Board and the Maryland Agriculture Council. She also served on the Colonial Farm Credit Board and was a dedicated member of the Colonial Agricultural Education Foundation. Mildred and her family were inducted into the Governor’s Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1991.

Young Farmers
The future of agriculture rests in the hands and hearts of the Young Farmers. To assist in the development of their leadership skills, both personally and professionally, the Maryland Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation organized four areas of competition - the Achievement Award, Excellence in Agriculture Award, Discussion Meet and Collegiate Discussion Meet.

The winners of the 2009 Young Farmer Achievement Award were Brooks and Katie Long of Washington County and Jason Watt of Carroll County captured the Excellence in Agriculture honor. Curt Kleinsorg of Carroll County won the Discussion Meet honor. All of those winners will represent Maryland Farm Bureau in the national competition at the AFBF convention in Seattle, Washington, in January. Jamie Beckley of Washington County was the winner of the Collegiate Discussion Meet and her national competition will take place at the AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in February.

Capturing the Outstanding Young Farmer County Group was Frederick County. Chair Becky Burrier accepted the honor from MFB Young Farmer Chair Brian Johnson.

Farm Bureau Women
The Farm Bureau Women are an extremely important part of the organization, planning and coordinating many agriculture education and legislative events throughout the year. Outgoing state chairperson, Evelyn Wilcom of Frederick County, was honored for her dedicated service and new officers were elected. New leaders are Elaine Moreland of Caroline County, chairperson; Irene Harper of Dorchester County, first vice chairperson; and Jennifer Cross, second vice chairperson.

Safemark Dealers
The top three Safemark dealers in Maryland were recognized based on dollar sales volume. The number one dealer in the state was Classic Tire Service of Queen Anne’s County and taking second was Gibson’s Shell of Anne Arundel County. Rounding out the top three was Kinnamon’s Service of Caroline County.

Scholarships
Maryland Farm Bureau awards a $3,000 scholarship to ten young adults from Farm Bureau families and who are pursuing college degrees. They are:

·  Theodore Patterson of Cecil County is the son of Ross and Miriam Patterson of Perryville. He attends the University of Delaware majoring in urban and regional planning.

·  Charlotte Thompson of Frederick County is the daughter of Frank and Pam Thompson of Union Bridge. She is a junior at the University of Maryland Easter Shore majoring in agricultural business.

·  Emmilee Lynn Guy of St. Mary’s County is the daughter of Roy and Sherri Guy. She is a freshman at the College of Southern Maryland majoring in elementary education.

·  Michael Amoss of Harford County is the son of Bill and Mary Amoss of Fallston. He is a junior at the University of Maryland majoring in agricultural business.

·  Allyson Lethbridge of Carroll County is the daughter of Stephen and Donna Lethbridge of Union Bridge. She is a junior at Hood College studying secondary education.

·  Brittany Lethbridge of Carroll County is also the daughter of Stephen and Donna Lethbridge. She is a freshman at Hood College.

·  Joel Workman of Allegany County is the son of Doug and Susi Workman of Frostburg. He is a freshman at Potomac State College majoring in agriculture.

·  Brittany Coleman of Dorchester County is the daughter of William and Lisa Coleman of East New Market. She is a freshman at Salisbury University majoring in biology.

·  Matthew David Insley of Dorchester County is the son of William and Traci Insley of Cambridge. He is a freshman at the University of Northwestern Ohio studying to be a diesel technician.

· Kayla Griffith of Anne Arundel County is the daughter of Jeff and Chris Griffith of Lothian. She is a senior at Michigan Technological University majoring in biology.

Retiring and New Directors
Seven Farm Bureau leaders were recognized for their service on the Maryland Farm Bureau Board of Directors as they retired. They were Bill Kenney of Wicomico County, Chris Parker of Prince George’s County, Sam Fielder of Harford County, Galen Long of Washington County, David Beall of Carroll County, Brian Johnson of the Young Farmers Committee and Evelyn Wilcom of the Women’s Leadership Committee.

Newly elected directors to the board were Charles Otto of Wicomico County, Yates Clagett of Prince George’s County, Jay Ricky of Harford County, Ronnie Leggett of Washington County, William Harrison of Carroll County, Joe-Sam Swann of the Young Farmers Committee and Irene Harper of the Women’s Leadership Committee.