Maryland

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Agriculture

Farms occupied 825,559 hectares (2 million acres) in 2005, or more than one-third of Maryland’s total area, in 1997. Crops were raised on 26 percent of the state’s land area.

In 1996 the sale of livestock and livestock products accounted for three-fifths of total farm income in Maryland, with broilers (young chickens used for food) and dairy products as two of the state’s top agricultural commodities. The sale of crops accounted for two-fifths of farm income.

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Crops

By value of sales, the principal crops are greenhouse and nursery products, corn, and soybeans. Corn is grown throughout the state, although most of it is produced in the Piedmont region. Most of the corn is sold for cash, but some is used for livestock feed and for seed on the farms where it was grown. Soybeans occupy much cropland, especially on the Eastern Shore. Tobacco is grown in Calvert, Anne Arundel, Prince Georges, Charles, and Saint Marys counties, in southern Maryland, and is one of Maryland’s most valuable cash crops. Its importance to the farm economy, however, is declining. Vegetables are grown on the Eastern Shore, especially in the three southern counties of the area, and to a lesser extent in the Piedmont region. Much of the vegetable harvest is processed in local food-processing plants. The rest is shipped fresh to urban centers.

Other field crops include wheat, barley, oats, and hay. Wheat is grown in the Piedmont region and on the Eastern Shore. Hay, including clover and timothy grass, is grown mainly in the Piedmont region and used primarily as livestock feed. Barley and oats are grown in the Piedmont region and in the valleys farther west. A variety of fruits are grown. Apples, peaches, pears, plums, and cherries are grown in western Maryland. Peaches are also raised on the Eastern Shore, as are strawberries, watermelons and cantaloupes.

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Livestock

Poultry farming is a specialized agricultural activity concentrated in the Piedmont counties near Baltimore, but especially on the Eastern Shore. Broilers account for most of the farm income from poultry farming. Eggs are produced for the large, urban markets close by. In addition, some turkeys and full-grown chickens are raised and sold for meat. Dairy farming is concentrated in the Piedmont counties but is also carried on in the western valleys and on the Eastern Shore. Most of the milk is sent to large urban centers. In addition, some beef cattle and hogs are raised in Maryland.

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Patterns of Farming

In 2005 there were 12,100 farms in Maryland. Relatively few had income sufficient for their operators to survive by farming alone.

Agricultural practices and farm prosperity vary considerably from place to place within the state. In the western mountains, subsistence farmers, like their counterparts elsewhere in Appalachia, exist on very low income. However, the commercial fruit growers in Hagerstown Valley and other valleys are relatively prosperous. Dairying predominates in the Piedmont region, especially in the counties of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Prosperous farmers specialize in producing milk and eggs for urban markets. In addition, some dairy farmers use surplus milk to feed high-quality calves and hogs, which are sold for meat. In southern Maryland nearly all the commercial farmers, many of whom are tenant farmers, specialize in raising tobacco. On the Eastern Shore much of the annual farm income is derived from the sale of livestock and livestock products. Broilers are raised mainly in the southern counties, while dairy farming tends to predominate in the north.

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Fisheries

The harvesting of shellfish in Chesapeake Bay dominates commercial fishing activities in Maryland. Blue crabs, clams, oysters, and horseshoe crabs are the most valuable shellfish caught in Maryland waters. Since the mid-1960s Maryland has been one of the top-ranking states in the quantity of oysters harvested annually. Large shipments of clams are regularly sent to New England restaurants to be served fried or steamed. The remainder of the commercial fishing catch includes white perch, spiny dogfish, black sea bass, goosefish, croaker, and menhaden, which are taken mainly in the bay, and flounder, which are caught in offshore waters. Catfish and bullheads also contribute significantly to the state’s income. The catch of Maryland’s fisheries in 2004 was valued at $49 million.