‘Ag industry breathing
collective sigh of relief’ with
GOP win
11/12/02
By MARK POWELL
Overnight, the political landscape has changed for Maryland farmers.
The election of the first Republican governor in the state since 1966 has given farmers an unfamiliar world. It’s a world where they expect to have a voice, to be heard. Many in agriculture’s leadership are anticipating “a new world.”
As the administration of Gov. Parris Glendening ends after eight years and Congressman Robert Ehrlich Jr., (2nd District, R.) takes over Maryland’s State House, farm groups expressed a uniform sigh of relief and glee at the thought of a pro-business, moderate leader taking charge. Glendening has been cast as a man whose world, as it relates to agriculture, has been dominated by environmentalists and animal rightists.
Many observers of Annapolis believe Glendening has diminished the role of key agricultural advisors, particularly his secretary of agriculture, in favor of leaders closer to his way of thinking.
Now, Ehrlich has promised a new culture in Annapolis after his defeat of Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in a historic victory for the Republican Party.
The first evidence of that new tone and culture for agricultural interests will be at Maryland Department of Agriculture and agencies that affect farmers, primarily the Department of Natural Resources and Maryland Department of the Environment. Scores of names are being circulated as potentional ag secretaries, including Maryland Farm Bureau President Stephen Weber, a Baltimore County farmer; and veterinarian Dr. John Brooks, who represents animal health issues on the Maryland Agricultural Commission. For DNR chief, Somerset County farmer and State Sen. Lowell Stoltzfus was listed by the Baltimore Sun as a potential candidate.
Stoltzfus, a conservative leader in Maryland’s legislature, would be a welcome leader at DNR in farming circles.
But, he is also a key leader in the Senate, and could be a valuable legislative ally to Ehrlich.
Farm groups were uniform in their delight over the results of the Nov. 5 election.
“The ag industry is breathing a collective sigh of relief,” said Valerie Connelly, Maryland Farm Bureau’s government affairs director. She also said Farm Bureau is looking forward to changes at DNR “that will lead to better management of the state’s wildlife population and less crop damage.” Connelly said she also expected the Ehrlich Administration will have a nutrient management summit — based on comments at a meeting the new governor had with Eastern Shore farmers earlier this year — to bring everybody to the table to discuss the state’s mandatory nutrient management law. “We’re looking forward to working with him on it,” she said.
William Satterfield, executive director of the Delmarva Poultry Industry Inc., said “we look forward to working with the new governor.
“We hope that he will soon initiate action to stop the state’s ill-conceived, and what we think is illegal, co-permitting.”
The state’s poultry industry and farmers are fighting Maryland Department of the Environment in court over co-permitting, which makes poultry companies responsible for the nutrient management practices of contract poultry producers. The poultry industry won one round in the legal battle, with a decision in their favor from an adminstrative law judge. But, the Glendening Administration is appealing the decision. An Ehrlich Administration could decide not to pursue the action.
Kent County, Md., hog farmer Pat Langenfelder was ecstatic with the election results. Langefelder chairs the Maryland Farm Bureau’s Friends of Agriculture PAC fund. The PAC fund endorsed Ehrlich over Townsend a month ago.
“Agriculture will be recognized as an entity in this state now,” Langenfelder said. “If you listened to Lt. Gov.-elect Michael Steele last night (in televised victory celebrations) he said ‘farmers and watermen in this state will not fear for their livelihoods anymore’. They acknowledge that we exist.”
Kenneth Bounds, vice president of marketing for MidAtlantic Farm Credit, was pleased with the election as well. “Agricultural interests in Maryland are looking forward to a better relationship with government, a relationship based upon cooperation and trust,” Bounds said. “There now exists a fantastic opportunity for a new partnership between government and agriculture and I see the Ehrlich Administration as taking full advantage of that opportunity.”
Maryland’s Ag Pac had an 87 percent success rate with the candidates endorsed by agricultural leaders. MDA’s
Connelly pointed to that as a good start to the process of working with a state legislature that will see 40 new delegates and 11 new state senators.
Satterfield said, “That number of new people means those of us in agriculture need to be aggressive in informing them about agriculture. There will need to be a lot of educational outreach to legislators.”
Connelly said Farm Bureau is contemplating an early outreach effort to introduce the legislature to farm community members.