Advisory Board Provides Recommendations and Input on State Agriculture Issues
ANNAPOLIS – Governor Martin O’Malley has appointed a Calvert County man, along with four other state citizens, to the Maryland Agricultural Commission. Representing the horticulture industry, Allen Swann is a semi-retired partner of Swann Farms, a wholesale fruit and vegetable operation in Calvert. He replaces outgoing member Henry Allenberg.
The commission is an advisory body comprised of representatives from different commodity groups who provide the Agriculture Secretary with information and recommendations on policies and issues facing the agriculture industry. Members serve three-year terms and are eligible to serve two consecutive terms. The Commission meets once a month.
“Members of the Commission are among the most knowledgeable and experienced agricultural professionals in Maryland, and they care deeply about the current and future state of this industry,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “I am grateful for their willingness to share their time and expertise on behalf of all Marylanders, and I thank the outgoing members for the time and effort they have put in to help ensure a thriving agriculture industry into the future.”
Swann holds memberships and leadership positions in the following organizations: Member of the USDA Fruit & Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee; Member of the Vansville Farmers; Member of the Calvert County Farm Bureau; Director Prince George’s Federal Savings Bank and Chairman of the Audit Committee; Member of the Maryland Vegetable Growers Association; Calvert County Board of License Commissioner; Director of the Colonial Agriculture Education Foundation; Director of Colonial Farm Credit. Allen was also the past Director for: Calvert Farmland Trust; Maryland Vegetable Growers Association; Maryland Farm Bureau. He has been a member of the Governor’s Environmental Policy Committee. As well as, the past Chairman for: Maryland Wildlife Advisory Commission; Maryland (State) Farm Bureau Membership Committee; Southern Maryland Regional Farmers’ Market; Maryland (State) Farm Bureau Young Farmers; Calvert County Young Farmers.
There are currently 30 members of the commission, representing: poultry, dairy, livestock, nursery, horticulture, field crops, vegetable industry, veterinary, Maryland State Grange, Maryland Farm Bureau, at large ag services, agri business, turf, equine, consumers, organic farming, direct farm marketing, viticulture, agriculture education, tobacco, forestry, aquaculture, food processing, biofuels, and agri-tourism as well as the University System of Maryland.
For more information on the commission: http://www.mda.state.md.us/boards_comms/md_ag_commission.php