Publications

There are a number of key strategies to successfully expand and sustain 4-H outreach programs. These strategies include (1) assessment and planning, (2) quality youth development training for facilitators, (3) participant recruitment, (4) quality program delivery, (5) sustainable partnerships, and (6) evaluation. This fact sheet will provide an overview of these six strategies and resources to begin your 4-H program outreach. Author: Dr. Nia Imani Fileds;Title: Strategies for 4-H Youth Development Educators on Outreach Programming (FS-927)

In 1998, the Maryland General Assembly passed the “Maryland Nutrient Management Law” that requires certain agricultural operations, including horse farms, to obtain a nutrient management plan. This document is intended to help horse farm operators determine if a plan is needed for their farm and what basic steps are necessary to obtain a plan.

Unless you are growing Zoysia grass or Bermuda grass, spring is NOT the best time to fertilize your lawn. The University of Maryland recommends that you do not fertilize your lawn in the Spring at all, unless your turf is weak and thin. Even then, the recommendation is to apply NO MORE than 1/2 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn before the end of May. If a home owner applied what fertilizer companies tell us to do, we would apply about 1.75 lbs. of nitrogen per 1000 square feet by the month of June. THAT IS THREE TIMES MORE THAN THE RECOMMENDED AMOUNT!

Taking just a little extra time before harvest to make simple adjustments can significantly increase farm profitability. Proper maintenance is important and will save money and down time during harvest. Start harvesting with all combine settings set according to owner’s manual and in the least aggressive part of the range (slowest rotor speed, widest rotor/concave clearance), then make adjustments one at a time and observe the effect of each change. Take an inventory of pre-harvest losses so you can determine what the harvest losses are. Getting out of the combine to check for crop loss is a must! Combine related loss should be 1 bushel/acres or less if crop is standing well. 2 kernels found in 1 square foot represents 1 bushel/acre yield loss.

How well are you prepared for a natural disaster? There is no possible way to be prepared for every possible disaster. However, many things can be prepared in advance to help cope with a natural disaster. Proper planning before a disaster occurs can decrease the severity of the impact and can help a poultry producer return to normal operating conditions quickly and safely.

The construction process of new poultry houses can be lengthy and tedious. This fact sheet is a tool to help potential poultry growers complete all the requirements needed to construct poultry houses in Maryland. Please read this packet carefully.

Wood is a plentiful and accessible fuel for many Marylanders. Wood burns relatively clean and comes from a renewable resource —the rural or urban forest. Coal and oil supplies are limited, are not renewable, and the cost of these fuels continue to increase. Heating costs consume a significant percentage of earnings of low‐ to moderate‐income families. Heating with fuelwood can greatly reduce utility bills for these households.

Strawberries are available in grocery stores 365 days a year. This is largely due to the fact that berries are shipped from different locations across the United States and around the world. However, in the eastern United States, fresh, locally-grown strawberries are only available at farmers markets, roadside stands, and grocery stores for several weeks during the late spring and early summer. This limited availability occurs mostly because the commercial strawberry production in the East is derived from June-bearing varieties, which have a brief production season.

Cleaning Maryland’s waterways one rain garden at a time. This new and improved “how-to” manual discusses the benefits of incorporating multiple small-scale practices into a rain garden design.

A Marketing Decision Tool and Guide for Grass-fed Beef is a resource guide that will assist grass-fed beef producers in formulating profitable marketing strategies. It is a decision tool to assist individual producers in making marketing decisions about what to produce; where/how/in what venue(s) outlets to market their product; and practical risk management strategies. This publication will help beef producers evaluate their individual operation on six factors that are barriers to entering a market - finding a niche, determining products and prices, meeting regulatory constraints, promoting and distributing prouducts, selling product, and managing risks. The guide is written in sections with decision making worksheets that can help producers identify their “best fit” grass-fed beef marketing opportunities. Individual producers can use the articles and resources that follow the decision worksheets to address possible barriers or lost opportunities within specific marketing venues. The information in this booklet is for educational use. It was written by Ginger S. Myers, Marketing Specialist, University of Maryland Extension and Director of the Maryland Rural Enterprise Development Center. Publication of this workbook was made possible through support from the Jorgensen Foundation and the University of Maryland’s Department of Animal and Avian Sciences.