The Model Farm

So I thought it would be a good idea to take a step back for a minute and talk about the history of agriculture at the University of Maryland. I know that agriculture and farming aren't really things that a lot of students think about all the time, even though we do have a working farm right on campus. Here's a quick timeline of important ag-related happenings at UMD:

• in 1856, the University of Maryland was chartered as the Maryland Agricultural College (MAC); the charter called for the creation of a "model farm" to be used for research and teaching (below: a MAC stock certificate)

• in July 1862, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which gave money to schools that taught agriculture or engineering or provided military training (whoa, so this whole deal where the federal government makes the military having access to students a requirement for federal funding started early); so the MAC became a land grant college in February 1964
• during and immediately after the Civil War, the MAC had lots of financial troubles, and had to be bailed out by the state legislature, which then assumed ownership of half the school
• the state took complete control in 1916, and the school became Maryland State College (this was also the year the first female students enrolled- yay!)
• in 1920, the Maryland State College merged with existing professional schools in Baltimore to form the University of Maryland, with the main campus here in good old College Park

As you can see, over time the university has changed from an institution focusing solely on agriculture to one with much broader perspectives. This was pretty much inevitable, since, after all, there's stuff besides tobacco farming going on in Maryland these days. And it's not a bad thing, either, but I think there's definitely is a case to be made for maintaining what's left of the "model farm" (which isn't much).


Although you wouldn't know it from looking at College Park, agriculture is still Maryland's number one industry: it employs 350,00 people, and brings in billions annually. It's also an industry that's undergoing some much-needed change. Awesomely, one of the College of Ag's biggest focuses is on sustainable production, and there's just no better way to convince students that approaching agriculture from a standpoint based on respect for the environment is a good idea than by letting them see it first hand.

Based on my experiences at Sheep & Wool Festival, I also think it's vital for students to see that there are ways to raise animals that don't involve mistreating them in one way or another. It's just important for people who are going to be entering the industry of animal production to know that hacking off tails and feeding an unhealthy diet aren't the only ways to raise an animal; I think that this might be one way that our farm could actually function as a model farm. Raising animals exactly the way we do it apparently isn't practical from a profitability standpoint, but hopefully students who pursue careers in agriculture will be inspired to innovate ways to balance humane treatment and profitability. The campus farm can be used to teach all kinds of useful lessons, like how to trim a cow's hooves, but it can also be used to teach students about humane, environmentally responsible farming practices. So you've got practicality and idealism (and sheep!)- how cool is that?