Maryland Agriculture Secretary Joseph Bartenfelder (second from left) poses at the Tri-County Council meeting with (l to r) Executive Director John Hartline, Sen. Mac Middleton and Council Chair Debra Davis, a Charles County commissioner. Photo courtesy Maryland Department of Agriculture.

Solomons, MD — A Request for Proposals (RFP) is expected to be released shortly for a public/private partnership to create a meat processing and distribution center in Southern Maryland. The location of the facility, which will include a slaughterhouse, will depend on which proposal is accepted by the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, which has legislative authority to pursue the project.

The project will be funded by state monies from the Tobacco Restitution Fund. The monies are in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget of the Southern Maryland Agriculture Development Commission (SMADC) which reports to the council. The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland is made up of elected officials in the region plus citizens appointed by the county commissioners of each county.

The $5.3 million budget approved by the council at its June 22 meeting in Solomons reflects an increase of almost $1.5 million for SMADC to move ahead with the ag center that is officially called the Southern Maryland Agricultural Business Park and Food Innovation Center. A total of $1.8 million is budgeted for the center.

Maryland Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton (D – District 27) gave a report to the full council at the June 22 meeting. He said the scope of the project had been narrowed to a meat processing facility and direct sales center to the general public after a survey determined that was the great need for it for farmers in the region.

Currently they have to travel to Virginia or Baltimore to process their livestock.
Middleton told The BayNet that the location of the new facility would be determined by the fact that it will include a slaughterhouse which will more than likely require water and sewer and be away from residential areas.

The long-time executive director of SMADC, Dr. Christine Bergmark, recently resigned. Middleton told the council that the SMADC board has decided not to immediately hire a replacement until they meet with area farmers and develop a process for the agency’s future.

Middleton said initial expressions of interest for siting the facility have been received from entities in the five Southern Maryland counties which historically grew tobacco–Calvert, Charles, St. Mary’s, Prince George’s and Anne Arundel.

Middleton, who is a full-time farmer in addition to the part-time legislator, introduced the meeting’s quest speaker, Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Joseph Bartenfelder. The secretary is a former Baltimore County legislator who now lives on his family farm in Caroline County. His family operates farms in two Eastern Shore counties and on their original Baltimore County farmstead that dates back to 1903.

Bartenfelder used the example of his family to deliver the message of the need for farmers to diversify. As his four children have gotten interested in farming he has diversified to give each of them a stake in the overall operation.

The agriculture secretary said it’s a constant challenge explaining the industry to the state’s suburban and urban legislators. “We have to reach out to them,” he said.

Bartenfelder also warned that the overemphasis on food safety by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could lead to the demise of small family farms. If the FDA pushes down too hard, he said, “You will see them (the farms) going out of business.”

Bartenfelder said he recently attended the opening of a new grocery store and he was struck by the lack of concern about food safety in the store as compared to what farmers have to deal with. “Food safety has to incorporate common sense,” he opined.

The June 22 meeting was the last for Delegate Tony O’Donnell, who has been appointed by Governor Larry Hogan as a member of the Maryland Public Service Commission. O’Donnell said the council still has an important role. “The Tri-County Council will be successful as long as the members are successful,” he said.

Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com