Publications

There are several ways to pack fruits, vegetables, and meats for freezing. Packing helps to retain the flavor of the foods and minimizes textural changes in foods during freezing. This fact sheet shares tips on freezing fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish.

Poultry farmers work with many different types of electrical equipment daily. Harsh environments inside and outside the poultry house can affect the safety of electrical equipment and create hazards. Growers need to take steps to prevent electrical injury, including only using properly grounded equipment, keeping electrical panel free of dust and debris, and looking for problems with equipment and cords. This publication provides guidelines for poultry farmers to follow to avoid electrical hazards.

Making decisions about the future of your land may seem overwhelming. It can be difficult to initiate conversations with your family, to sort out the different professionals involved in estate planning, and to know how to take the first step. Try not  to get overwhelmed—the hardest step is often the first one.  This publication can help get you started, and discusses the  types of professionals who will help make it happen. 

Dicamba tolerant soybeans, marketed under the trade name Roundup Ready 2 Xtend Soybeans are again available to Maryland growers for the 2018 growing season. This line of soybeans combines previous Roundup Ready technology with tolerance to the herbicide dicamba. While this new dicamba tolerance may be useful in combatting certain tough-to-control weeds including marestail and palmer amaranth, use caution when applying dicamba. Applications of dicamba may cause problems due to the sensitivity of certain crops to the herbicide. Exposure can occur due to drift, volatility, or a non-target application. This report provides recommendations for using new dicamba-tolerant technologies.

There is a strong consumer demand for locally produced foods including a call for more locally produced eggs. Real profit potential exists for Maryland egg producers to expand their markets in to retail, wholesale and Food Service Facilities in Maryland. This publication provides introductory information and resources that can help Maryland’s egg producers improve their sales of shell eggs into retail channels. Because there are continual changes and updates at both the state and federal levels, please check for the most current edition of any regulations cited in this publication.

Vibrio bacteria naturally inhabit coastal waters and are frequently isolated from a variety of raw seafood, particularly oysters. Detection of Vibrio species in seafood and growing water has traditionally been problematic because of the limitations of conventional techniques based on plate culture methods. Moreover, no culture method is able to discriminate pathogenic populations. In order to provide education and training to individuals involved in seafood testing, a hands-on training course has been developed and offered through cooperative efforts of University of Maryland Extension (UME) and University of Maryland’s Joint Institute of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN). The methods described in this manual are designed for detection and enumeration V. parahaemolyticus, V. vulnificus, and V. cholerae in oysters. The analytical methods are combination of procedures from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) and other sources, and have been used as training protocols for the hands-on training course on Vibrio Detection.

Broiler production is the largest agricultural revenue generator in Maryland. A broiler is a chicken produced specifically for meat production. Broiler production includes small fryer- to large roaster-type chickens. Approximately 35 percent of cash farm income in Maryland was from broilers in 2016. Maryland ranked eighth nationally in the number of meat chickens produced, and tenth in the number of pounds of meat chickens.

This is the recall plan for Farm. This plan does not address recall provisions related to meat or egg products. This plan will be periodically updated.

All Maryland produce growers have the shared goal of growing safe food for consumers. Despite growers’ best efforts, however, foodborne illness outbreaks happen. When an outbreak occurs and can be traced to the source, it is usually followed by a recall of the product. A recall can result in substantial financial damage to the grower and have ripple effects throughout the industry. Having a recall plan in place lessens the confusion, delay, and financial repercussions which can stem from a recall.

Most wheat and soybean seed sold in Maryland is protected by either U.S. Patent Law or the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA). These protections severely limit the age-old practice of “farmer-saved seed” or prohibit it entirely, depending upon the protection the owner of the variety secures. The following will discuss the implications of Patent Law and PVPA on farmer-saved seed of wheat and soybeans. Authors: Dale Morris, Robert Kratochvil, and Paul Goeringer; Title: Farmer-saved Seed: What is Legal? What is Not? (FS-1064)