The country has a new secretary of agriculture. He's Ed Schafer, a former two-term governor of North Dakota.
He's also the grandson of a farmer who emigrated from Denmark to take up homesteading in the American northwest.
Schafer's ties to agriculture go back to his family's wheat and livestock farm in Hettinger County, where he spent his summers.
He says he learned firsthand about agriculture by helping out with farm chores and tinkering with engines.
His new job thrusts him into the deadlocked negotiations with Congress over a new farm bill that will set federal agriculture policy for the next five years.
After Schafer's unanimous confirmation last Monday, members of the Senate Agriculture Committee expressed their hope that he would be able to break the deadlock between the Bush administration and Congress on the reauthorization of the $286 billion farm bill.
The administration is opposed to a continuation of farm policy that pays crop subsidies to the wealthiest farmers. It is also opposed to any tax increases.
The farm bill affects an array of programs, including farmer assistance payments, food stamps, milk price support, farmland preservation and environmental conservation.
The hangup stems from lawmakers who argue that they cannot pay for an expansion of food stamps and other programs without new revenue sources.
House members passed its version of the farm bill in July. The Senate approved its farm bill in mid-December.
Differences in the two proposals need to be reconciled by a House and Senate conference committee.
Farmers in Maryland are keeping an eye on the debate in Washington. A lot is riding on these negotiations, including a big difference in the amount of money to fund farm conservation plans to reduce pollution of the Chesapeake Bay.
The Senate plan would provide $165 million over five years in technical assistance for farmers to improve water quality in local streams and rivers and the bay, according to John Surrick, a spokesman for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Under the House plan, funding to farmers to help pay for pollution controls would total $520 million over five years.
State farmers have long argued that they do not get their fair share of the federal farm spending plan.
Bruce Gardner, a professor at the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, says that while Maryland farms account for 0.8 percent of the country's $240 billion in farm sales in 2006, they received only one-half of 1 percent of the $20 billion paid out in federal support funds.
He said the big bucks still go to farmers in other parts of the country. Maryland farmers could get a little more funding this year, Gardner said, but most of the crop support payments are destined for states that grow cotton and rice, two commodities not grown here.
Organic farmers, a fast-growing segment of Maryland agriculture, also stand to gain from the Senate version of the farm bill.
The Senate proposed spending $80 million over the life of the plan for organic agriculture research and university extension services. It also favors allotting $22 million to help farmers pay the cost of certifying their crops and livestock as organic.
Schafer has said he hopes to move the farm bill forward while making certain that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.
Schafer succeeds Mike Johanns, who resigned in September to run for the Senate.
Open house
The Maryland Department of Agriculture will hold its annual open house on March 29 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
There is no admission fee and the event will be held at the department's headquarters, 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis.
Department officials say this year's event will highlight the agency's role in serving and protecting consumers. The event also celebrates the state's farmers and the important role they play in providing food and protecting the environment.
Visitors can see the department's insect collection, make slime in the state chemist's laboratory, enjoy a food and craft market, demonstrate their hog-calling skills, take in a petting farm, milk a cow and ride a pony.