JOANNE CLENDINING: It is a big wide agricultural world from the shore to the mountains and all points in between.

Did you know daily life at a mill can be a grind?

That harvest time can be festive?

And hanger steak may be the tastiest cut you never heard of?

Don't go anywhere stories about the people who work the land and feed our state, along with the "Local Buy" are coming up next on "Maryland Farm and Harvest."

NARRATOR: 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.

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.

And by Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

(theme music playing).

(bird chirping).

JOANNE: Maryland's livestock farmers play a vital role in the state's economy and cultural heritage.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining.

Welcome to "Maryland Farm and Harvest."

Operations like the one here at the Jacobs Family 300 acre Church View Farm who are now six generations in, are focused on hay and pasture land for their herd of Polled Hereford cattle.

As the Jacobs will undoubtedly attest, raising livestock offers a unique and fulfilling connection to the land and to the community.

Reminding them of the circle of life and the importance of stewardship.

Coming up a grain farm combines harvest with agritourism to remind visitors what fall farm fun is all about.

But first, a family-run mill has been mixing animal feed for three generations and has been a community staple in Lineboro since 1932.

But on any given day, if your timing is good, town gossip and news just might be grist for the mill.

(tractor engine).

How does a business survive depressions, world wars, pandemics, and everything in between.

For RF Warner Sons, it's been a reliance on hard work, honesty, and the steadfast choice to always do it the right way.

A little bit of humor doesn't hurt either.

KATE WARNER: Hey, cut it out.

You got your hearing aids in?

ALLEN WARNER: Huh, what?

JOANNE: RF Warner Sons is a feed mill that sits in the sleepy town of Lineboro and they've been mixing grain vegetables and vitamins into livestock feed for over 90 years.

ALLEN: My grandfather, Raymond Warner, and his brother Morris came here uh, in 1932 and then it was called Warner Brothers.

I tell people they sold their share in the television business and went into the feed mill and not a good, not a good choice.

JOANNE: The mill has been family-run from the start.

And if you're from around here, you know that the Warners are the true pillar of the community.

Today, Allen and his wife Kate, are the third generation of Warners to run the mill.

KATE: It's hard work and it's hard to find employees these days who want to, you know, spend their time throwing 50-pound bags around all the time.

Um, it's a dirty job.

You get dust all over ya.

It's not easy, but it's satisfying to me.

JOANNE: Kate runs the office while Allen is in the mill, a place he's been all his life.

ALLEN: People ask me when did I start working in the mill, I remember I was in the mill before I could tie my shoelaces because my dad's uncle, Uncle Eddie, he would always stop me and tie my shoelaces for me.

We'd crawl on bag piles and we'd have a little cart that you could push one bag around on running that into everything.

You know, I guess started to push it around before I probably able to.

JOANNE: All those years in the mill have fostered a sense of responsibility to deliver a superior product.

But it all starts with the grain from farmers that Allen and Kate source locally.

ALLEN: They're close by, they're good farmers, they raise good products.

JOANNE: Once the grain is delivered, it goes through an auger and up a grain elevator.

ALLEN: The belt that goes around has all these buckets on, and when it goes to the top, it flings it to the, to where it's going.

JOANNE: Where it will then be cleaned of any unwanted plant material.

This is an important step and one they're proud of.

ALLEN: I think it makes, makes a better product.

I feel like a lot of the feed we make, I don't have to hang my head to anybody else because of the quality of the feed.

JOANNE: It prevents any non-nutritional filler from going into the feed, making it easier for animals to digest.

It's a quality that doesn't go unnoticed by their customers, including Mary Shunk, who's been buying her animal feed from the mill for over 60 years.

MARY SHUNK: I know I'm not getting a lot of that extra whatever in the feed.

They mix their own feed.

I don't worry about anything that I get here, I know my animals are being well-fed and well-cared for.

They're the best people to deal with.

They know what it means to the farmer.

I wouldn't go anywhere else.

JOANNE: But RF Warner Sons isn't simply transactional, rather it's a community hub where farmers can call for advice.

KATE: But there's nothing in it that will hurt them.

JOANNE: Or just swap stories to shoot the breeze.

ALLEN: Tell, tell these folks what kind of a fisherman I am.

CUSTOMER: He won't share all his secrets.

I don't understand.

ALLEN: He brings us a little honey once in a while.

He, he, he's a...

CUSTOMER: I wish I had some now, I'd share it with you.

ALLEN: Hey, what do you call yourself an apiarist?

What?

What is it?

CUSTOMER: A beekeeper.

ALLEN: Beekeeper, all right.

JOANNE: The Warner's sense of humor is only eclipsed by their sense of giving.

Not only do they support the local 4-H and FFA, but when Tennessee was devastated by Hurricane Helene, they sent truckloads of feed to help farmers in need.

ALLEN: They need it.

People in a pinch who like to help people out that need to be helped.

And I figure it's kind of up to me because it's AG-related.

You know, not everybody has a feed mill.

JOANNE: There's a modesty to the Warners.

But make no mistake, this is a family that has given their lives to support the agricultural community, despite the challenges and maybe even in spite of them.

But the future of the mill is uncertain.

ALLEN: We've offered the place for sale and uh, and I'm to the point where I'm ready.

Some days when I'm in my, in my moods, I tell my wife we'll nail the doors shut and sell the place empty.

And that'll be that.

KATE: I love the family tradition and it's hard to give up on that.

ALLEN: For 92 years there's been a Warner coming, coming to work it.

Nothing lasts forever.

So we take it, do what you can do.

JOANNE: But regardless of the mill's future fate Warner is a name that an entire community will be proud of.

Long after the augers move, the last piece of grain, their legacy will remain.

Allen and Kate Warner have dedicated their future to the future success of the mill.

After all, they live across the street.

So it's not just a job, it's their life.

And did you know, according to a study by the Institute for Feed Education and Research, there are over 5800 animal feed mills in the U.S., accounting for nearly a million jobs and with a total sales of almost 300 billion dollars.

♪ ♪ All right, it's time to test your agricultural know-how.

Here is our thingamajig for the week.

Do you think you know what it is?

Nope, it's not an hourglass.

Here's a hint, what this bottle makes will rise above the rest.

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

When it comes to farm equipment, no other is as ubiquitous as the good old tractor.

They come in a variety of sizes and colors and most have a unique job to do.

Here are some of our favorite picks.

Enjoy.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JOANNE: Harvest time can be one of the more rewarding aspects of farm life.

And when you can share that with the community through a combination, fall festival and corn harvest, all the better.

(tractor engine).

Fall in Maryland is a sight to see.

Cooler temperatures bring autumn colors, golden corn, ripe red apples, and of course pumpkins.

You can't go anywhere in October without stopping to pick one, two, or a dozen.

And if you've got a hankering for corn mazes.

CHILD: This way!

JOANNE: Hayrides and apple cannons, you'll most likely find yourself at one of the state's many fall farm festivals like the fall fest here at Knightongale Farm in Anne Arundel County.

JOEL C. GREENWELL, SR: People like coming out to Knightongale Farm and they like all the different activities.

It's just a family-oriented, fun place that is a farm.

JOANNE: That's because Knightongale Farm, like 295 other Maryland farms, is a farm first, and a hayride, corn maze, and pumpkin patch, second.

With the hope that the pumpkin patch will keep the farm alive when times get tough.

BIG JOEL: We grow soybeans, corn, sunflowers, pumpkins, and we cut hay on about 500 acres.

JOANNE: Over the years, fluctuating grain prices combined with bad weather and increased costs for technology and labor have forced many small and medium-sized farms to diversify.

BIG JOEL: We started agritourism back in the late '90s, and it's a second income with the grain farming, which grain farming is very marginable.

JOANNE: It's not just grain farming.

Nationally, income from farming has dropped 23% from 2022, one of the biggest declines in history.

Meanwhile, income from AG tourism rose from 750 million in 2012 to 1.26 billion in 2022.

Now AG tourism comes in all shapes and sizes from wineries to creameries and breweries, from you pick flowers, to Airbnbs, farm markets, cow cuddling, horseback riding, even camping.

All in order to have a safety net when crops or prices go sideways.

Beyond the fall festival, Knightongale Farm sells Christmas trees in the winter and now has a Sunflower Festival in the summer.

JOEL C. GREENWELL, JR.: So one of the main reasons we do this is to keep ourself stable throughout a season that could possibly be down on income as a crop.

Because as everybody knows, farming is a big gamble.

JOANNE: Joel Greenwell Jr. grew up helping out at the fall festivals.

JOEL JR.: And something we've done every year.

And while the safety net income is nice, it's also been a way to give back.

BIG JOEL: And the money that is raised out of the trunk-or-treat, we split it between the Southern High School FFA and the Harwood 4-H.

So then kids have some money to do their projects throughout the year.

JOANNE: Speaking of projects, how is it juggling the AG tourism business and the farm?

BIG JOEL: You know, when we have the fall fest here, it's also during our harvest time, you know, weather permitting and just trying to get everything to go good day by day sometimes can get a little tough, but we try to manage.

JOANNE: Today is one of those days.

ASHLEY GREENWELL: So during the week we need to harvest things in the field and they're doing that.

And then when it's the weekends, it is strictly pumpkin patch.

JOANNE: Unless it's been too wet to harvest all week, Joel's daughter-in-law, Ashley Greenwell knows right where she can find Big Joel.

ASHLEY: It's obviously not raining, so it's a good time to cut.

Um, everything's probably dry, so he's gonna get in that combine and go harvest some corn.

When you're farming, you have to go exactly at the right time.

So when the time is right, you have to go.

BIG JOEL: The season's been very dry, through the month of June and July, we probably went 6, 6, 7 weeks without any rain at all.

JOANNE: 2024's drought was a nightmare for Maryland farmers with eight counties designated primary natural disaster areas.

BIG JOEL: I'm just hoping to break even this year.

If I break even, you know, I'm going to be happy.

I don't have a monitor in the combine, but what I've shelled so far, according to my acres with my monitor and my planner, it's doing anywhere between 115 and 125 bushels to the acre.

I'm pretty happy with that.

You know, with bad years, like, like this, you know, it's fortunate that we have agritourism to make an income that we can fall back on.

Hopefully, it's not like this every year.

JOANNE: The fall festival at Knightongale Farm has the right mix of activities and it's large enough to not feel overcrowded.

And I can't wait to give that apple cannon a go.

So fun.

And did you know agritourism in Maryland is big business?

The last agricultural census completed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2017 found 295 agritourism farms in Maryland with revenues of nearly 10 million dollars.

Coming up, chef Shalia Coburn visits two farms to find the perfect combination of proteins and produce.

But first, when grains are harvested and transferred to the mill or to storage bins, there's a giant rotating screw that moves them around.

It's called an auger.

Josh Ernst explains on this week's, "Ask a Farmer How it Works."

JOSH ERNST: Excellent.

♪ ♪ So people will often wonder how we move our bulk grain.

And we do that with a auger.

This is actually a transport auger, so powered by a tractor, PTO hitch drives the gearbox that drives the auger itself, this is a portable transport auger, so we can move it to any of our grain bins and uh, we don't have to wire it up.

You know, you can just move the tractor with it, you hook it up and you can fill or unload the, the bins.

So as our business has grown, the transport auger and just the bulk bins down below, um, doesn't serve the purpose that we need.

That system was designed to be filled and emptied once a year, but what we're doing is we're pulling grain out of those bins every other day.

So we're investing in this system over here.

This system has more advanced technology that basically makes it so you can pull from any bin and dump into any bin by the touch of a button.

So the way that works is, uh, we have a drag conveyor here and the grain drops into that.

Uh, I think there's like five, six bins up, but we're, we're building some more, there'll be 8, 9, 10 bins.

So just depending on which button we push, it dumps into, uh, another drag conveyor, which hits, hits our bucket elevator.

Um, what that does is it takes the grain up to select which pipe we want the grain to drop in, and there's, the grain will just fall down in them and, and fill the bins.

And that's all about augers and then some.

(eagle screeching).

JOANNE: On this week's "Farm to Skillet" chef Shalia Coburn has a decision to make for a small dinner party.

But one thing's for sure, whatever she chooses will be fresh off the farm.

♪ ♪ SHALIA COBURN: As a chef, I'm always looking for a unique dish to prepare for my clients and my friends and family.

I'm Chef Shalia of Chef B Meals.

I'm here at Zekiah Farms and owner Cindy Beuchert, she's gonna help me out.

CINDY BEUCHERT: Hey chef.

How you doing this morning?

SHALIA: Good morning, Cindy.

How are you today?

CINDY: I'm doing great.

SHALIA: It's great to see you.

CINDY: It's great having you out here again.

SHALIA: So, Cindy, I'm on the fence today.

I'm not really sure if I wanna prepare beef or lamb, I have a dinner party this evening and I kind of need your help with that.

All of our Angus, all of our, uh, cattle is black Angus, and we dry age, all of that.

So it gives you a really tender juicy.

So you'll really enjoy that if you decide choosing it.

And the lambs are also pasture raised and you'll enjoy those also.

SHALIA: And I, I second that tender and tasty.

CINDY: Thank you, appreciate that.

So if you want, we can go inside and take a look at the selection and you can choose what you want for your party.

SHALIA: I'm looking.

Oh wow.

CINDY: We have lamb chops.

You had mentioned you were interested in lamb chops.

We also have beef and chicken, so I can go over some... SHALIA: I love lamb chops.

What is that back there?

CINDY: This here is the hanger steak.

SHALIA: Wow.

CINDY: Yeah, they're hard to find.

SHALIA: Yes, I think I'm gonna definitely have to take the hanger steak.

Um, this is really speaking to me right now, but I'm torn because I really love lamb chops and I kind of was gearing towards that.

Can't make a decision right now.

So I'm gonna take both the hanger steak and lamb chops.

CINDY: Good choice, 'cause lamb is seasonal, so this is a good time to get lamb.

SHALIA: Great.

I don't know which one I'm gonna prepare, we'll just have to see when I get in the kitchen.

CINDY: Well, you're gonna have to tell me which one you do and how you like 'em.

SHALIA: Great, awesome, thank you.

♪ ♪ Hi, Phil.

PHIL MILLER: Well, Shaila, welcome to our farm.

SHALIA: Good to see you again.

PHIL: What brings you here?

SHALIA: So I'm preparing a dish today.

I do need some fresh seasonal produce.

What do you have?

PHIL: Well, come inside and let me show you.

SHALIA: Great, let's go.

PHIL: Shaila, here's our greens... SHALIA: Wow.

PHIL: ...That we grew.

Um, we have collards here on the end and we have kale.

This is turnip and mustard, and this is the straight-leaf kale.

SHALIA: Wow.

PHIL: As a matter of fact... SHALIA: This is awesome.

PHIL: ...would you, uh, like to go to the field and I can show you where we grow these?

SHALIA: Yes, I would love to.

PHIL: Did I tell you we're going on a hayride?

SHALIA: Really?

I'm so excited, let's go.

PHIL: I'm excited too.

We are a century farm.

SHALIA: Mm-hmm.

PHIL: Uh, it was started in 1879.

SHALIA: Okay.

PHIL: And I'm fifth generation here at our farm here.

This is our straight-leaf kale field.

SHALIA: It's gorgeous.

Um, um, I'd love to pick some of this kale with you.

PHIL: Yes, well, uh, you just break the leaves off, um.

SHALIA: What are we looking for?

PHIL: Well, you've wanted something that's nice and green.

Mostly all these leaves, we haven't had rain in over a month.

SHALIA: You can't tell.

PHIL: So, um, we'll pick some more leaves for you.

SHALIA: Okay.

PHIL: Um, we'll just, uh, kind of break 'em off like this.

SHALIA: You're much faster than me.

PHIL: Well, I, I have a few years of experience.

♪ ♪ SHALIA: Welcome to my kitchen.

I'm still not sure exactly what we're cooking, are we gonna do hanger steak or lamb?

But we are gonna start off with our kale, so let's get going.

We're gonna go ahead and, um, remove the stems from the kale.

Whenever I do this, it reminds me of Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house.

This was always my job to clean the kale.

It brings me back to those times where I was a little girl and had all my family around me.

We're gonna move on to our sweet potatoes and we're gonna cut them into sweet potato fries.

You wanna go ahead and toss 'em with olive oil, a little salt and pepper.

Cooked them in the oven at 375.

So we have our lamb chops, we have our hanger steak.

I've decided to go with the hanger steak.

They're both equally beautiful, but this is just too beautiful to pass up.

Um, so we're gonna go ahead and season it up with our salt and pepper, herb mixture, olive oil, and garlic.

(pan sizzling).

That nice sizzle is what you wanna hear.

It smells so good.

Once you get your meat nice and golden and brown, you're gonna transfer it to another pan and put it in the oven to finish it off.

And then we're gonna get our start with our green beans.

They're gonna take a little longer to cook, so we're gonna add those first.

Got our green beans sauteing.

Beautiful.

This is always my favorite thing to do in the kitchen is to, this is when I knew I became a chef when I could do this.

So we're gonna add our kale in.

(pan sizzling).

Get 'em on the plate.

Beautiful.

I can't wait to eat.

I'm so excited.

Mm, mm, mm.

Wow, would you look at that?

All right, we've got our hanger steak out of the oven, let's let it rest.

I can't do anything basic, we have to add some value here, so we're gonna toss our sweet potatoes in a honey garlic butter.

This looks like fall on a plate.

Look at that.

Fan it out.

And there you have it folks, we have a beautiful fall-friendly dish, nutritious and delicious.

Visit mpt.org/farm for the recipe.

You don't want to miss this, I cannot wait.

My mouth is literally watering as we speak.

Mm.

My god, you guys have to try this.

It is so good.

JOANNE: That hanger steak looks so good.

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, what this bottle makes will rise above the rest.

This is a milk bottle cream separator.

You'd pour milk into the bottle and with, with enough time and patience, the cream will rise above the milk.

Later a centrifuge was used to speed up the process.

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).

NARRATOR: 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.

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.

And by Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

(bird chirping).