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Family’s organic farm grows despite the shrinking competition
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Related Topics: Sparks, Md.
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Jack Gurley works on the organic farm he owns and operates with his wife, Beckie.
Sparks, Md. (Map, News) - Calvert Gift Farms keeps it natural.
A certified organic farm in Sparks, the agricultural business was started in 1994 by Jack and Beckie Gurley. The newlyweds left their jobs in a consulting firm to start the farm and their family.
But while the Gurley farm continues to grow today, the farming industry in Maryland continues to shrink.
Across the state, Maryland saw its total number of farms drop 8 percent from 1997 to 2002, according to the latest study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Locally, the counties that have done the best are Anne Arundel and Harford, each seeing its farms drop by only 7 percent. The counties have 432 and 683 farms, respectively. In Baltimore County, there are 781 farms, a decrease of more than 12 percent in the last 10 years, the Maryland Farm Bureau reported.
Size-wise, however, Baltimore County has some of the smallest farms, at an average of 91 acres. The highest in the area was Carroll County, whose farms were an average of 139 acres. The total production value of farming in Maryland is around $1.3 billion, according to the most recent survey by the Department of Agriculture.
At Calvert Gift Farms, the Gurleys have created a niche for themselves to separate their farm from competitors.
“Being organic farmers, we make an effort to be very diverse in not only how we grow but how we sell,” Beckie Gurley said.
Gurley takes produce to farmers markets in Bel Air, Tacoma Park and Catonsville, while the family also is involved in a cooperative-farming effort in Sandy Spring and a local Community Supported Agriculture effort.
Having already sold out their allotment with more than 50 CSA spots for the season, the Gurleys say they are happy with the business the farm is doing but have their work cut out. From April to November, the family, with two daughters aged 9 and 10, will work seven days a week.
“We would welcome our daughters to take over,” Gurley said. “They help us some, and we will see [what happens].”
dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
6:04 PM MST on Mon., Jul. 7, 2008 re: "Maryland farmers squeezed by soaring fuel, fertilizer costs"
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12:03 PM MST on Mon., Jul. 7, 2008
re: "Maryland farmers squeezed by soaring fuel, fertilizer costs"
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10:08 AM MST on Fri., May. 9, 2008
re: "Program would shift farmers’ excess water to municipalities"
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2:02 PM MST on Mon., Jan. 21, 2008
re: "Harford has state’s only robotic milking machine"
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9:03 AM MST on Tue., Jul. 10, 2007
re: "Drought killing corn crop early this year, affecting livestock"
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12:17 PM MST on Fri., Jun. 15, 2007
re: "Harford has state’s only robotic milking machine"
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11:53 AM MST on Fri., Jun. 15, 2007
re: "Harford has state’s only robotic milking machine"
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9:11 AM MST on Fri., Jun. 15, 2007
re: "Harford has state’s only robotic milking machine"
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12:49 PM MST on Tue., May. 22, 2007
re: "New legislation to help preserve farms and aid the environment"
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4:57 AM MST on Thu., May. 3, 2007
re: "Cost of milk leaves gas prices in the dust"
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Examiner Reader said:
Rising fuel costs. Chineses drilling 85 miles off our coast while we import. No new refinery within 30 years Do not worry Obama has a tax plan to make it all ok.
2 agree | 3 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
This is the unfortunate price we pay by thinking and acting that gasoline prices would never change. Wait until winter hits because if it's cold, our prices are going to jump again. It's time to invest in renewable energies, I'd be more than happy to see O'Mally push for these over the new Calvert Cliffs Power Plants. Maybe farmers should be cut a deal to go back to solar and wind power for home and allow more money to be spared for fuel costs.
3 agree | 2 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Then what happens when the farmer's neighbor's well runs dry?
5 agree | 5 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
why does the cow look green?
114 agree | 119 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The cows are out of luck, now that we are using corn for fuel. What a plan. It sounds good during good growing seasons, but what do you do now? We need to stop screwing around with band aids to fix our fuel supply problems and get serious about resources that are proven to work. Nuclear power, new refineries and drilling.
238 agree | 270 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I saw my grandfather hand milk cows in a barn with only an oil lantern for light. What's the world coming to!!!
266 agree | 249 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Isn't it a little demeaning to refer to beautiful dairy cows as "toddlers" and a magnificent robotic milker as a "toy". The technology blows my mind that a cow can be milked by a robot. Good for the Dallams! Kate makes the BEST ice cream in the world at Broom's Bloom Dairy Store.
265 agree | 279 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Very interesting article on the robot. However, cows surely get more than "a pellet" while being milked. One pellet would be about the size of a piece of dogfood and would hardly lure the cows to the robot. I hope the cows get a good portion of pellets dumped in front of them when they enter the robot.
272 agree | 268 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
That doesn't seem like a lot of milk production. are you missing a few zeros? Tim Feeser Carroll County Commissioners office
538 agree | 261 disagree
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Huh? said:
Doesn't the government subsidize milk? What an economic ripoff of citizens. Produce extra milk, waste lots of it then charge more for the little bit that is left.....amazing!
424 agree | 294 disagree
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