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

Did you know that in vitro fertilization is big business?

That drones are used to battle pests?

And an author has a Maryland way to cook?

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: Embracing technology and innovation is a must for the future of agriculture.

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

Here at Sharp's at Waterford Farm, Alan and Julia Sharp straddle the fence of traditional farming and high tech advancements.

Their agrotourism model gives kids of all ages a glimpse of traditional farm life while the way they use technology is a glimpse into the future.

I'll show you what I mean later in the show.

On this episode, we explore the way technology and innovation have created opportunity and advancement in the way we farm.

Coming up a drone is used to drop a predator on its prey, but first I join Dr. Tom Mercuro, a renowned in vitro fertilization veterinarian, and get an up close and personal look at why the U.S. is the top supplier of pure bred dairy genetics.

(tractor engine).

AI is all the rage these days.

It seems like it's everywhere, but what most folks don't know is that farmers have been using AI for years.

Ha, I'm not talking about artificial intelligence.

I'm talking artificial insemination, also known as in vivo, which is the process of taking a bull semen and placing it directly into a cow's reproductive tract.

She's like, "Nope, don't wanna go there."

TOM MERCURO: Yeah.

JOANNE: So last century.

TOM: Come on baby.

JOANNE: Since the '90s in vitro fertilization or IVF where the egg and sperm are joined in a lab and then placed in a cow has become mainstream.

TOM: I actually do happen to see an early pregnancy here.

JOANNE: Is that that right there?

TOM: Yeah.

JOANNE: Wow.

TOM: It really accelerated the impact that we could have with genetics.

JOANNE: Okay.

IVF to transfer embryos for local clients in 2008.

Clearly, this is not your first rodeo.

TOM: Nope, done this before.

(laughs).

JOANNE: Oh my gosh.

TOM: Each one of those five circles is what's called a follicle.

JOANNE: See, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

TOM: She would be a jackpot.

JOANNE: Each follicle contains one egg.

TOM: Okay, watch the needle come down.

JOANNE: Oh my gosh.

TOM: See the fluid?

JOANNE: Yeah.

Dr. Mercuro will delicately remove each egg from its follicle.

Now, what if you like are in, you thought you were in one, but you're not.

Like, does anything happen or do you just... TOM: Um, no, the ovary is a very dynamic structure, everything that you see will not be there in two weeks.

JOANNE: In the lab, he'll extract the cow's specific genetic traits from her eggs, fertilizing them using genetic traits pulled from a specific bull with the results gauged in months instead of years.

A cow has one calf a year, but I can take a cow and create 100 embryos in her in one year.

100 fold increase in the impact of that elite genetic animal.

A bull could have 50 to 100 offspring a year and can easily make 100,000 units of semen in a year, creating 50,000 offspring.

That's 1,000 times fold the impact of that animal.

JOANNE: A true force multiplier.

But like most things going to market quality is more important than quantity, especially when your market is worldwide.

TOM: As I met with clients, it was apparent that there is a need for specialization, one for efficiency, but two, just to make it a little bit more of a one stop shop.

JOANNE: Mercuro works with each client to determine the cattle's native environment from its feed management to the grasses in their fields, and then develops the most efficient and sustainable animal for that farm.

TOM: If an animal lives on this farm, it's because her genetics are in demand globally.

This is an 80 acre farm, it's specifically designed to house elite cattle.

JOANNE: The layout of the farm focuses on biosecurity.

TOM: That allows us to maintain the healthiest animals we can.

JOANNE: That allows Mercuro staff to maintain the animal's health and safety while monitoring their genetic traits.

It's been since season one, since I got to see one of these.

TOM: These animals are very valuable.

JOANNE: I guess the calf is a little large.

TOM: A bull that is popular and in demand is easily worth over a half a million dollars.

And we don't know who that bull's gonna be, so every animal that's born here has to be treated as though it has that potential.

JOANNE: It's like playing the lottery.

TOM: It's one in 1,000.

We have to give nature its chance to reorganize the genes, then we genomically test them.

JOANNE: The results rank the animal in terms of milk production, resistance to disease, reduced need of antibiotics and carbon footprint.

TOM: And then that enables us to make it available globally.

And then they come to your door.

JOANNE: Yeah, they are literally coming to his farm.

In just the week I was there, he hosted clients from Japan, Germany... TOM: And later on today there'll be a gentleman in from China.

And this is Mr. Jian.

JOANNE: Jian Shuwang and Alex Zou represent China's third largest dairy producer.

Are there a lot of large organizations such as yours or are you guys pretty much?

ALEX ZOU: Yes, we run a really big, uh, farms ourselves, so.

TOM: How many cows?

ALEX: Oh, we have 180,000, uh.

TOM: Five times more than are in Maryland.

JOANNE: Wow.

TOM: Yeah.

JOANNE: Tom must be doing something right if producers that large are coming to Maryland.

Let's face it, it's not the dairy capital of the country.

TOM: Maryland's very unique.

Maryland has one of the smaller cow populations based on the state size and the dairy industry.

But on a percentage basis, it outweighs every other state in the union as far as the contribution per cow into the genetic field.

JOANNE: While Mercuro Farms is just one of several Maryland farms supplying the world's dairy market... Hi, big eyes.

...He and his team are dedicated to advancing IVF at home and abroad.

TOM: That's the goal.

And probably the key to our success is listening to the clients, ensuring the safety of biosecurity and bringing them the products that they need, whether it be semen, bulls, live animals, or embryos.

JOANNE: Dr. Mercuro continues to make strides in ET and IVF science, allowing farmers to create offspring from their most valuable breed.

♪ ♪ All right, it's time to put your agricultural know-how to the test.

Here is our thingamajig for the week.

Do you think you know what it is?

Nope, it's not a toboggan.

Here's a hint.

This tool was used by grain farmers to cure their separation anxiety.

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

There's not a more iconic image of farm life than that of a barn.

Whether it's Dutch gambrel, roofed round, or bank style, they never disappoint.

Here are some pics of our favorite outbuildings.

Enjoy.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ JOANNE: So I mentioned that technology is the future of farming, I'm here with Alan Sharp and he's been using a drone to plant his cover crop.

Alan, tell me how it works.

This thing is ginormous.

ALAN SHARP: Yes, it is a big drone.

This is our newest piece of equipment here on the farm, it's an AGRAS T50 and we use it for a variety of things.

Currently it's set up for our dry hopper so that we can use that to seed cover crop over standing crops.

It also comes equipped with a liquid tank, so the dry hopper can carry 110 pounds of seed and the liquid tank about 10 and a half gallons.

JOANNE: Wow, shall we see what it does?

ALAN: Let's take it for a spin.

JOANNE: All right.

ALAN: Here we go.

(drone buzzing).

Alright, we're off to work.

JOANNE: Oh my gosh, now do you have to steer it or anything?

ALAN: So I have this field pre-programmed so the drone knows exactly where it's gonna go.

It knows how many pounds per acre we're gonna apply, it knows how high above the crop we're gonna fly, it knows, uh, the boundaries of the field, it knows any obstacles in the field, so it's, it's flying itself at this point.

JOANNE: Wow, so literally set it and forget it.

ALAN: It is set and forget.

JOANNE: That is amazing.

Our next segment takes a look at how drones are used to deliver a natural pesticide.

And what it drops on the crops will surprise you.

(tractor engine).

It's early morning in White Marsh and Kirk and William Floyd have beaten the sun to the day.

The father son duo are here at the Richardson Farms produce fields to use drone tech to ensure pests don't ruin the harvest.

KIRK FLOYD: The drone dance.

So that's a compass correction, when you're flying something like this, autonomous, it just, the, the drone has to know what direction it's in, uh, because GPS doesn't tell you north, south, unless you start moving, so like in your car, it'll freak out until you start moving.

The drone freaks out if it doesn't know which way north is.

JOANNE: Drones have become especially helpful to farmers in recent years and adopting new technology to improve efficiency is nothing new for the nearly century old Richardson Farms.

BRIAN RICHARDSON: We've been here since 1930 and I am going to be the fourth generation to continue the business.

JOANNE: Brian Richardson oversees the produce at the farms where they're growing crops like sweet corn, collards, and kale.

That also means it's a hotbed for the Diamondback moth, a notorious crop killer that loves chewing on leafy greens during its larvae or caterpillar stage.

BRIAN: And they will take a plant and literally eat it down to the veins that are in the leaves, you go out there and it looks like somebody shot the plant with a shotgun.

So I am out here in the field inspecting kale plants looking for any kind of Diamondback damage.

On this leaf right here, we have some, you know, some holing right here in the center, some out here on the edges.

And if I turn here to the underside, I can see I have a good sized one on this leaf here, very active in eating.

JOANNE: What might seem like a cute caterpillar is actually responsible for billions of dollars of crop damage every year.

It's a challenge for sure, but sometimes it helps to take a bird's eye view of a problem.

And at 16 miles per hour, Kirk's drones can cover 30 acres in under three hours.

KIRK: And it's gonna follow the path that I created, and how I created the path was putting a boundary around the entire field, basically geofencing the field and then I'm able to write a, like a lawnmower stitch pattern within that.

So the drone will not leave that geofence field.

JOANNE: But there's just one more problem, the Diamondback moth, which can see 75 generations in one summer, can also become resistant to conventional pesticides.

BRIAN: Say there's a thousand out there and you go out and spray and you kill 900 of 'em.

Those hundred are resistant to that product now.

So when they mate, if they produce 500,000 offspring between those 100, all of them will be resistant to that product.

JOANNE: So then what exactly is Kirk spraying onto these fields?

Instead of using conventional pesticides, he's dropping 100,000 Parasitoid wasp eggs per acre across the fields.

Parasitoid wasps are flying insects that lay their eggs on or in the bodies or eggs of other insects.

Even though the Diamondback can develop pesticide resistance, it can't fight nature.

BRIAN: And they fly around just like any other bee, feed on pollen, everything like that.

And the females will lay their eggs inside of the egg clusters of the Diamondback moth.

And once they hatch and turn into larvae, they eat the egg cluster of the Diamondback moth.

JOANNE: It might sound like a horror movie, but it's an effective way for farmers to have nature working with them.

KIRK: So I think it's a cool kind of alien type of operation, kind of like insect warfare.

Most people are afraid of it, but this insect is as small as a gnat, it has no stinger, it's only thing that it can hurt is the bug we're trying to kill.

JOANNE: Over the course of the year, at just 10 feet off the ground, Kirk will drop millions of wasps onto the farm fields.

But at just one millimeter in size, the wasps are often naked to the human eye.

To ensure the tiny bugs are leaving the drone.

Kirk's son, William or the aptly nicknamed "Bugg" is mixing the wasp eggs into vermiculite, a hydrous mineral.

WILLIAM "BUGG" FLOYD: Vermiculite is actually crushed rock.

We can't put the insects out as is, so we put it out in the light material 'cause it won't crush the insects, but it'll still disperse an even pattern around the field.

JOANNE: Bugg mixes while Kirk flies.

And the two need to work in sync to make sure all the fields are covered.

KIRK: We're just like NASCAR, we wanna be out of there in two minutes on the ground.

Uh, we get, we charge by the acre, so we don't get paid to be on the ground.

JOANNE: The efficiency is appreciated by Brian, who knows the future of farming is the same as it's ever been, innovation.

BRIAN: Pests are, they play a huge role.

If you can't do anything to control 'em, you'll be out of business, so we have to improvise and change and adapt and overcome.

JOANNE: Coming up, Al gets cooking the Maryland way, but first, agriculture by air.

The evolution of the use of aircraft to seed, spray, and monitor crops, on this week's "Then and Now."

♪ ♪ Pilots tasked with spraying or seeding a field flew a harrowingly low 15 feet off the ground to ensure accurate seeding or spraying.

Crop dusters in the early 1900s relied upon repurposed World War I airplanes.

Seeds, pesticides or fertilizers were placed in a hopper at the front of the plane to be dispersed mid-flight.

But these planes had open cockpits and the materials would frequently fly right back into the pilot's face.

Leland Snow considered the grandfather of crop dusting, spearheaded the development of smaller, cheaper, and more maneuverable mono wing airplanes.

Snow also added numerous safety features to future designs after an incident where the left wing of his airplane fell off mid-flight.

He adapted roll cages to protect pilots during a collision and closed cockpits to prevent seeds and pesticides from ever reaching them.

While Snow's, inventions have remained a staple for the industry, farmers today continue to innovate.

For more targeted seeding or spraying, farmers have opted to use helicopters.

However, drones may prove more precise and economical.

Drones are also being explored in cover crop planting and even firefighting.

From open cockpit planes to unmanned drones, farmers have embraced ingenuity and innovation both "Then and Now."

On this week's, "The Local Buy," Al joins author Joyce White and prepares a traditional meal that would've graced the tables of early Marylanders, Al.

♪ ♪ AL SPOLER: This is the famous Hammond-Harwood House Museum in Annapolis, where 50 years ago they published one landmark cookbook, it was called "Maryland's Way" and it contains hundreds of old traditional historic recipes from our state of Maryland.

Today, it sold over 100,000 copies, I'm proud to say this is my very own.

(applause).

Well, we're here today to celebrate the publication of an entirely new cookbook that has stewed in the same classic spirit as its predecessor.

Crafted by food historian and author Joyce White this book is an exciting companion to "Maryland's Way," highlighting inclusivity and including recipes from diverse cultural backgrounds.

DREW SHUPTAR-RAYVIS: I wrote the small segment of "Corn, Beans and Squash," I wrote that segment, I also donated a family recipe of Indian corn cakes, that was one enjoyed up to my great-grandmother.

WILLA BANKS: In this new book, I submitted an essay and the essay is about the African American influence on the cuisine.

AL: And there's no better place to explore the flavors of these rich culinary traditions than the Riversdale House Museum and Joyce brought me here today to gather ingredients to prepare one of her new recipes.

Look at all these beautiful leafy greens here, what do we have?

JOYCE WHITE: So these are collard greens.

AL: Oh, really?

JOYCE: Yes.

AL: Uh-huh.

JOYCE: So they were, uh, originally from Europe and Asia.

AL: Mm-hmm.

JOYCE: And we're brought over to this continent by the European settlers.

AL: Right.

JOYCE: Yes, we try to make this garden as historically accurate as possible.

AL: Mm-hmm.

JOYCE: Given what we know about that time period.

AL: We're gonna need some collards for our, our stew, so.

JOYCE: Okay.

AL: And while we gathered the heirloom veggies for our dish, Joyce made sure every squash, carrot, and green bean had their stories told too.

AL: Joyce, we got some okra growing here.

JOYCE: Yes.

AL: Is that native to Maryland?

JOYCE: No, it's not, it was, uh, brought over with the enslaved servants from West Africa.

AL: Oh, really?

And that is what I love about her book history and flavor cohabitating the same pages.

So Joyce, uh, what dishes do you have planned that'll use all this food?

JOYCE: So I've chosen dishes that reflect the people who lived on this land.

AL: Mm-hmm.

JOYCE: The indigenous or early Marylanders, as well as the African American enslaved and the European settlers who came here.

AL: Mm-hmm.

JOYCE: So I've chosen corn as the main crop that we're gonna be using.

We're gonna be using it to make succotash.

AL: Mm-hmm.

JOYCE: Which is a dish made with lima beans and corn.

And then we're gonna be making a later version of that called Brunswick Stew, which has the corn and the beans, as well as a variety of other seasonal produce, and then we're also gonna be making a corn pudding.

AL: But the authenticity of cooking an old recipe is only enhanced by preparing it in an historic kitchen.

And we're in luck, thanks to the Riversdale House Museum.

Now, classic Brunswick Stew features squirrel, right?

JOYCE: Yes.

AL: Are we doing that?

JOYCE: Well, actually, the recipe that I used is called Squirrel Brunswick Stew.

However, uh, you do not have to use squirrel if you'd rather not.

AL: Thank you.

JOYCE: So we're using chicken.

AL: Okay, that sounds really good.

JOYCE: It's a recipe that was made by an enslaved cook, uh, Uncle Jimmy Matthews for, uh, his enslaver Dr. Creed Haskins at a hunting camp.

And, um, it was simply just breadcrumbs, onions, squirrel meat.

It was a perfect recipe to symbolize, uh, the cultural traditions of the people who lived here, but also the seasonality.

AL: Plus the squirrels are getting fat on acorns.

JOYCE: That's right.

AL: We don't put that in.

And with the Brunswick Stew, well on its way, there's only two dishes left, the succotash... JOYCE: To this, we call a "spider skillet."

AL: And the corn pudding.

JOYCE: This contraption here... AL: Mm-hmm.

...It's called a Dutch oven or a bake kettle.

AL: And while I'm not sure that I wanted to, we made enough to share.

(applause).

We've been working all day.

JOYCE: Yes.

AL: This is the Brunswick Stew, the succotash and the corn pudding.

And before I serve it, I better make sure it's up to your standards, if you don't mind.

Oh, boy does it.

You're gonna love this.

It has so much flavor and it's very buttery.

JOYCE: Yes.

AL: Which I really like.

If you wanna learn more information about Joyce's book, "Cooking Maryland's Way: Voices of a Diverse Cuisine," we're gonna put information on the website at mpt.org/farm so you can look it up.

For "The Local Buy," I'm Al Spoler, Joanne?

JOANNE: Thanks Al.

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 this tool was used by grain farmers to cure their separation anxiety.

This is a Winnowing Device.

Grain farmers use this back in the day to shake their grain harvest, separating the wheat from the chaff.

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 chirping).