Episode 1202

♪ ♪ JOANNE CLENDINING: From the shore to the mountains and all points in between, there's a truckload of agricultural goodness to be had.

Did you know... showing cattle can be a sister act?

That fisheries don't need a body of water?

And skewered meats are your new barbecue go-to?

Don't go anywhere, stories about the people who work the land and feed our state 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 Farms come in all shapes and sizes and some have been around for centuries.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining, welcome to "Maryland Farm and Harvest."

This week we're in Carroll County at Evermore Farm where owners Ginger and John Meyers have carved out 20-plus acres where they raised Dexter and Belted Galloway beef cattle and Berkshire hogs.

They chose to raise the same livestock that would've grazed these pastures some 250 years ago when this farm and the surrounding land was owned by one of America's founding fathers, Charles Carroll.

Coming up, there's something fishy in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

But first, as we celebrate Maryland's rich agricultural history, you can't help but imagine what its future holds.

And for many farms that bright promise begins at a young age when 4-H competitions give kids the tools they need to grow.

(tractor engine) ♪ ♪ When many folks think of a county fair, they imagine fun rides, fried food, and of course cute animals.

But for Bella, Charlotte, and Mabel Smithson of Pond View Farm, it's a time to shine.

SHANE SMITHSON: It'll be cool to see who can wins.

JOANNE: The Smithson sisters are members of the largest youth development program in the nation, 4-H.

The name is a nod to their values, head, heart, hands, and health.

Each year at county and state fairs across America, over six million kids ages five to 18 gather to compete and share their hard work.

BELLA SMITHSON: I like 4-H because like what you learn from it.

CHARLOTTE SMITHSON: I found that people who own animals and do 4-H learn responsibilities so much quicker, they learn how to do stuff and they learn so much for the future.

JOANNE: Today, a small portion of Maryland's 69,000 4-H kids are at the Harford County Farm Fair to showcase a year's worth of learning... (snorts).

And discovery.

For the Smithson sisters, along with parents Jackie and Shane, they're bringing a lot to the fair.

SHANE: This year at the fair, I think we're gonna take 16 farm animals to the fair, plus other indoor projects and, uh, photography and cakes and so forth.

JOANNE: They're hoping to see their months of hard work pay off, especially in the show ring.

SHANE: The, the old saying in 4-H is you don't win the show the day of, it's all the months beforehand that win the show.

JOANNE: The girls are showing cattle in two classes: showmanship.

SHANE: Give yourself room.

JOANNE: And market.

Market competition is all about the animal.

MABEL SMITHSON: The judges are normally looking for a heavy-boned animal, big-bodied, long, lots of hair.

JOANNE: Lots of seriously groomed hair.

SHANE: So all the little details again, is just making you stand out, you know?

JOANNE: Before any animal steps into the ring, they've been washed, blow-dried, roto brushed, combed, and trimmed.

CHARLOTTE: So everything we do is preparing that animal for the judge to make that judge notice that animal and say, "I like that one, it has good hair, it looks amazing, I love it."

SHANE: Charlotte, you're gonna be next.

JOANNE: For showmanship, the girls take that same quaffed cow back into the show ring, but this time the judge is gauging the exhibitor's training, appearance, and behavior.

MABEL: They want you to be looking at the judge, getting them in the perfect position, that the judge wants you and the best showman that does that feature, wins.

Luckily, Charlotte has a trick that helps her relax before entering the ring.

CHARLOTTE: I start singing a song in my head when I before I walk into the show ring.

BELLA: When I'm in the ring, there's like just so many things that you have to make sure that you're doing.

You're always trying to be able to look at the judge and he'll tell you what to do, what you need to do.

CHARLOTTE: When you're walking you want to keep their head up and try to make them look the best presented as possible.

You want to walk with good posture, so you wanna keep your show stick up.

When I set her up, her front feet are gonna be centered and her back foot like that.

JOANNE: As if that wasn't enough, they know they've got two judges watching them.

The ring judge, and dad.

SHANE: Just stop, stop, stop.

CHARLOTTE: When the judge isn't looking at me, I look out for my dad to see if he's making like little hand signals.

Push your loin down or walk forward.

SHANE: Pull up, guys.

It's a team effort.

JACKIE SMITHSON: I think it's instinct to be like, oh, get that foot forward and look at the judge.

SHANE: Sometimes if it's an animal that we've had that's we've, you know, put your whole life, soul and heart into, you get a little emotional about it.

But at the same token, if you see another animal out there and you know it's better, you know, it is what it is.

ANNOUNCER: The young lady with the black heifer's gonna go ahead and lead off.

Really nice job, congratulations.

For this class, Charlotte and her heifer come out on top.

CHARLOTTE: So I'm very happy with how I did at Harford.

I have a month before our next, uh, fair at state and I know that there's a lot of stuff that I can work with, but I have some time to do it.

JOANNE: The Smithson sisters had an amazing county fair with a combined hall of 24 awards, that included Bella winning the Champion Simmental and Champion Bred and Owned category, and Charlotte bringing home the Reserve Grand Champion Market Steer award.

The Smithson family are all in raising beef cattle for 4-H competition.

We'll see them at the state fair later in the season.

And did you know that nationwide over six million young people participate in 4-H?

Over 69,000 of Maryland's youth are part of the program.

(bird chirps).

♪ ♪ All right, it's time to test your inner agronomist.

Here is our thingamajig of the week.

Do you think you know what it is?

Well, here's a hint.

It might take some elbow grease, but in the end, you'll be spreading the joy.

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

Speaking of homemade joy, we love seeing the fruits and vegetables of a farmer's labor beautifully displayed at their farm stand.

Here are some picks of those happy places, enjoy!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JOANNE: Salmon is one of the most popular fish in the U.S. but 70% of salmon products are shipped from abroad.

What if you could have fresh Atlantic salmon farmed and produced locally, even in rural landlocked states?

Set in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, The Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology is working on just that.

(tractor engine).

♪ ♪ Just on the edge of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, a team of scientists from the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology have gone fishing, but not in these waters.

SCIENTIST: There we go.

SCIENTIST 2: Yeah, that's a nice one.

YONATHAN ZOHAR: Here, here lemme help you.

So we're very nervous right now because this has never been done before and we just, uh, recently submitted many samples from over the last year to analysis, to, uh, sequencing, to sequencing the genome on the skin of the fish.

JOANNE: Hidden within the sleek facade of IMET, thousands of fish representing a diverse array of species are born, raised, studied, and harvested in indoor tanks.

Dr. Yonathan Zohar, professor of Marine Biotechnology at UMBC has been studying these indoor aquaculture systems for the past 40 years.

YONATHAN: And we here at IMET, at the Aquaculture Research Center are, uh, trying to address all these challenges, bottlenecks, hurdles to this industry so it can become, uh, economically feasible as well as obviously as much as possible, uh, uh, environmentally responsible.

JOANNE: But with an investment of $10 million from the USDA.

Dr. Zohar and his team of scientists are angling for something a bit different.

A land-based fish farm called a recirculating aquaculture system that addresses the challenges faced by traditional offshore fish farms, such as environmental pollution and waterborne diseases.

YONATHAN: Aquaculture has become the world's, uh, fastest growing sector of agriculture.

Our bottom line is developing new platform of environmentally responsible fish growing aquaculture, uh, operation.

JOANNE: This team's investment in the environment begins with water.

All dirty water is filtered, clean, and reused again and again.

But what happens to the waste in the water?

KEVIN SOWERS: The goal here is to get rid of that waste, reduce it, and turn it into a product that can be used.

JOANNE: Dr. Kevin Sowers has been spearheading the team's research into utilizing lab-grown bacteria, housed in countless plastic circles, drifting throughout the water filter to filter dirty water and release methane gas, which is burned and converted into raw energy.

In other words, this facility is powered by fish poop.

KEVIN: And the product we produce, the biogas will actually help power about 10% of the energy costs here in the facility.

JOANNE: With this process, most waste products never enter the ocean or Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

♪ ♪ But to make this program economically feasible, Dr. Zohar will have to think small.

These salmon eggs spawned right in this facility mark a little triumph for the IMET scientists who have overcome the challenge of breeding salmon in captivity.

YONATHAN: So salmon usually is a very seasonal spawner and we are using environmental manipulation to phase shift, to, uh, change the time of the spawning of the fish so the farmer can get eggs, good quality eggs all year round.

JOANNE: Wild salmon swim upstream to spawn, so to trick the fish's reproductive cycle and significantly increase yield, Zohar alters the salinity of the water and the lighting in each tank.

Extended daylight simulates long summer days, gradually dimming to mimic nightfall, these alterations in the cycle trick the fish into perceiving a different season.

SCIENTIST: Yeah, I'm gonna climb in and we're gonna check and see indication of egg development.

Okay, 1, 2, 3, go.

JOANNE: For the success of this breeding program, the proof is in the pudding.

So these researchers will need to snag an expecting mother.

But to check her for eggs, they will first need to calm her down.

SCIENTIST: Here you, here you go.

So they dunk her in an anesthetic bath to render her unconscious.

YONATHAN: We're trying to anesthetize them as, as softly as possible, as little as possible so she doesn't suffer.

JOANNE: Now she is all ready for her ultrasound.

SCIENTIST: I got a good depth, now go up.

YONATHAN: Yeah, to the left of the stomach are the, are the ovaries, up.

SCIENTIST: Those are the eggs right there.

YONATHAN: Yeah, this is all the egg mass.

JOANNE: Success!

This fish is pregnant months early.

YONATHAN: And these fish are going to be spawning as we expect them, uh, about six months after the nature spawning season, which is the best outcome that you can get.

Uh, if you can do it six months, you can do it four months, three months, all year round.

JOANNE: Leading from this groundbreaking Maryland research center, Dr. Zohar hopes to inspire the emergence of similar programs across the United States, providing new jobs and fresh salmon for landlocked states.

YONATHAN: For someone who has been working on aquaculture for over 40 years, well, I have a lot of energy still to make sure that we make this happen, that you know, we, we stop over fishing our oceans and we satisfy the increasing demand of seafood in the United States and in the world.

JOANNE: Dr. Zohar's aquaculture program extends across labs in five states, partnering with academia and industry to further develop and improve indoor salmon farms.

♪ ♪ Did you know, a recent survey found the U.S. imported nearly 360,000 metric tons of farmed salmon to the tune of 3.4 billion dollars?

IMET is looking to bring some of those dollars to local economies.

Coming up, Chef Steve Chu takes grilling to a new level with farm-raised beef but first farm equipment has come a long way since the days of the horse and plow.

But how many tractors does a modern-day farmer need the answer on this week's "Ask A Farmer."

JOSH ERNST: The question is, how many trucks and tractors do you have to have on a farm?

We have a decent amount, two tractor-trailers, two service trucks, two pickup trucks, two planter tractors, Farmall 200, 400, 240, 522.

John Deere 3020.

Those are all the old tractors that we have.

The last brand-new tractor we ever bought was a Farmall 400.

We have two combines, two telehandlers, a skid loader.

We have three forklifts, five or six trailers, oh, we got a White 180.

We got a lot.

We got so much that I have to have a list of what of when things need service to make sure that we don't forget to service our tractors.

So we have a lot of different tractors because we need to have backup tractors if one goes down.

We need to have multiple tractors for multiple pieces of equipment or employees.

Plus what farmer doesn't wanna have a shed full of tractors?

JOANNE: Looking for a new twist on the backyard barbecue?

Chef Steve Chu digs into his Asian roots to reinvent the traditional grill fest on this week's "Farm to Skillet."

♪ ♪ STEVE CHU: There's nothing better or more American than a good old backyard barbecue, but hot dogs and burgers, that's like so last decade.

Today we're gonna be making Chuan or Asian meat on a stick.

Follow me, my name's Steve Chu, Chef and Co-founder of Ekiben here at the Fells Point Farmers Market, finding some of the best veggies and proteins to make this dish.

Let's do this.

What's up, dude?

Long time no see.

JESSE ALBRIGHT: Steve, what's going on, how you've been, man?

STEVE: Good, good.

JESSE: Good, good.

STEVE: So we're gonna make some, uh, like Asian skewers called Chuan.

JESSE: Okay.

STEVE: So like very flavorful, very spicy.

JESSE: Okay.

STEVE: So we need veggies and we need like nice fatty proteins.

JESSE: But I know you always like our more marbled cuts.

STEVE: Yeah, something like very tender.

JESSE: Right, well I've got, I, I got some selection here for you.

Some nice, like different cuts and we can take a look at, uh.

STEVE: These are beautiful.

JESSE: These are, um, all grass raised and then grain finished, raised on our farm right in, in Northern Baltimore County and, uh, processed by a local butcher.

Yeah.

STEVE: I mean you can tell like the quality of meat, like look at this fat cap right here.

It's really, really gorgeous, and all the marbling.

JESSE: You know what they say fat is flavor, so.

STEVE: There we go.

That's what we're looking for.

What's up, boss?

CHAD EPLER: So we have pounds of shrimp here.

STEVE: Amazing.

CHAD: These are three pounds.

STEVE: So these are bay scallops?

CHAD: Those are bay scallops.

Those are harvested twice a year.

So yeah, we get 'em twice a year, so they're very rare for us.

We get these bay scallops all year long.

STEVE: Okay, we'll take both of them.

CHAD: You got it.

STEVE: Okay.

CHAD: Alright.

STEVE: We're gonna make tiny little tender morsels of lamb, skewer them, cook 'em over charcoal, hit it with a ton of spices, chilies, cumin, salt, uh, so we need something else to stand up to all the spices and all that heat.

JASON GROSS: I would, then I would suggest this.

STEVE: Oh, it's beautiful.

JASON: Yeah, and you can, you can, you know, break this down and the rounds will make really nice cubes.

STEVE: Yeah.

JASON: So hopefully this fits the bill for you.

STEVE: Yeah, I can't wait to use this, I mean, all lamb is essentially grass-fed, so it's, it's less gamey, more tender.

JASON: Oh yeah, less gamey, more tender.

Sometimes I think it's hard to recognize that it is lamb.

It still has that lamb flavor, but it's no game, the gaminess is not there.

STEVE: Oh, I can't wait to use this, this is gonna be perfect for the skewers.

JASON: Yeah.

STEVE: Good to see ya.

We just finished up at the Fells Point Farmers Market got this beautiful basket full of beautiful vegetables and local grass-fed meats.

And I can't wait to get back to Ekiben, my creative juices are flowing.

The weather's great.

There's so much positive energy out here.

Can't wait to get cooking, let's go.

So welcome to the Ekiben kitchen.

This recipe's actually super easy, just get the best ingredients that you can get, obviously at a farmers market.

We're gonna cut 'em into like really tiny pieces and then we're gonna go outside and grill them over a really beautiful charcoal grill where like, your grandkids can do this, your kids can do this, anyone can do this.

I really like New York strip for this recipe because you have this beautiful, well marble kind of lean meat that typically in, in China in like the western like Chiang provinces, they'll layer the skewers fat, meat, fat, meat, fat, meat.

This is like a street food, so it's meant to be cooked very quickly.

Um, lot of flavor.

Skewer, beef, a little bit of fat, scallion, don't stab yourself and repeat, just keep on doing it, same thing over and over again.

And that's it, that's your New York strip skewer with scallions.

Delicious.

Lamb isn't like super popular in the U.S. but it should be.

The number one skewer flavor in China is lamb.

Lamb is like the OG skewer flavor.

Here are all of our skewers, we're gonna go grill them over our charcoal grill.

Let's go.

All right, here we have our beautiful Japanese Konro grill.

We have a really, really fancy charcoal, it's actually from Thailand.

Here we have our beef skewers, remember these?

So good.

And we're going to brush them with a little bit of fat.

Uh, I'm using duck fat, I do not recommend vegetable oil, it'll like taste funny when the, the oil hits the charcoal.

So we're gonna do a little brush and then we're gonna stick 'em on top, hear that sizzle?

Beautiful.

So we're gonna turn these a lot.

Uh, we want to get like a nice caramelization on both sides and we're gonna hit it with some seasoning.

This is why I mostly do the grilling, I just want to eat while you grill.

Oh man, that is very good.

All right, so we're gonna hit it with a little bit more of the sauce.

Look at that.

This recipe's so easy to make.

Anyone can do it at home, in the house, out the house, you don't need any training.

Um, but if you're interested in the recipe, visit us on mpt.org/farm and the recipe is like gonna be this long.

So here we, we have, um, some farm fresh zucchini, with a little bit of oyster sauce, Chakri and some Ethiopian spices, enjoy.

TASTER: Mm, that's really good.

STEVE: Here you go.

TASTER 2: Thank you.

STEVE: Enjoy.

TASTER 2: Appreciate it.

Oh my gosh, that's amazing.

STEVE: Alright, there you go.

Here you go, get your veggies on, man, so good.

TASTER 3: Oh, thank you.

JOANNE: I am gonna try that the next time we fire up the grill, so fun.

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 that it might take some elbow grease, but in the end, you'll be spreading the joy.

This is a butter churner.

You fill the jar with cream, crank the handle until the buttermilk separates from the fat.

And voila, you've made butter.

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 chirps).

♪ ♪