Public

The workshop will feature Paul Goeringer, a Principal Faculty Specialist and Extension Specialist in agricultural law. He will address leasing, landowner liability issues, right-to-farm law, fencing laws, livestock liability, and estate planning. The workshops will also involve research related to solar development by Elizabeth Thilmany, a Faculty Specialist in AREC.

1/14/25           

Grain Budgeting - Simplified                   

This presentation is designed for producers and stakeholders interested in enhancing their decision-making processes. We'll focus on best budgeting practices via a walkthrough of our new grain budgeting website, which was designed to support improvements in planning and risk management practices. Additionally, we'll introduce our beta resource that tracks utility—and community-scale solar developments in Maryland.

Elizabeth Thilmany     

2/11/25

Setting Goals for your Farm Business

This webinar will guide you in setting clear, actionable goals to grow and sustain your farm business. Learn how to assess your farm's needs, set SMART goals, and create strategies to track progress. Perfect for farmers, families, and agribusiness owners ready to plan for the future.

Shannon Dill                                              

3/11/25                       

Small-scale berry production  

How to produce blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and other woody small fruits on small acreage (less than 10 acres). This talk is meant for anyone considering diversifying their farm by adding small fruits or just getting started growing small fruit. We'll be talking about the first steps to getting your planting going and how to take care of and manage your planting so you will continue to have a bountiful harvest for years to come.          

Haley Sater

4/8/25         

Leveraging Social Media and Consumer Insights to Boost Your Market Opportunities                    

This webinar will share insights from my research on consumer behavior and marketing practices in ornamental horticulture, offering practical strategies to explore and expand market opportunities by leveraging consumer insights and social media.

Xuan Wei  

5/13/25           

Nitrogen management in humid temperate climates   

The webinar will discuss the nitrogen cycle, pathways for nitrogen loss in cropping systems, and best management practices for conserving nitrogen. 

Sarah Hirsh    

6/10/25            NO WEBINAR                                     

7/8/25   

Pasture Renovation: Putting the Punch Back in Your Pastures  

Think your pasture may be in need of some renovation but aren't sure where to start? This presentation will provide an overview of the pasture renovation process, including how to determine if renovation is needed, different types of renovation, timing for renovation, and 10 steps for successful stand establishment.  

Amanda Grev

8/12/25            no webinar                                    

9/9/25  

Native Grasses 101     

A quick look at some of Maryland's underutilized native grasses, their benefits, and how to incorporate them into landscapes. Will also take a look at some non-native, invasive grasses that are ecologically harmful and their native alternatives.

Mikaela Boley

10/14/25           

Navigating Farm Family Finances          

Farm operations often juggle the business operation finances with the personal family finances. This workshop will provide an overview of a toolkit available designed for farmers to explore aspects of balancing personal finances.    

Jesse Ketterman & Carrie Sorenson   

11/11/25         

Understanding IPM Basics and developing an IPM plan

An overview of different IPM techniques and the best practices for implementing them, then how to develop an IPM plan for your specific growing operation as well as helpful resources

Hayden Schug

12/9/25     No Webinar   

UME will host town hall meetings across the state to gather feedback and input from community residents and stakeholders. This is a unique opportunity for community members to help shape UME’s strategic focus and influence future programming and outreach efforts. These town hall meetings offer a forum for community members to share insights on local needs, discuss pressing opportunities, ask questions, and provide valuable feedback on UME’s future direction. The perspectives and ideas shared during this event will be instrumental as UME develops a plan that responds to the challenges and priorities identified by Maryland communities.

This is our annual meeting for farmers and producers to receive education and Nutrient Management and Private Pesticide License credits.

You're invited to the 8th Annual Urban Farmer Winter Meeting, organized by UMD Extension.
Attend this annual professional development event to be updated on the latest local issues and research results.

This year we will meet at Allen AME Church, in Baltimore, MD. A big thank you to them for allowing us to meet in their space this year.

Draft agenda:
- Panel on land access
- Allen AME's experiences with community development through gardening
- Updates from new Urban Agriculture Extension Specialists
- Preliminary results of rainwater harvesting and treatment research
- Dinner and networking
More to be announced soon!

Registration and attendance options
In person attendance is capped at 60. This event will also be broadcast online. In the event of inclement weather, we will move the event fully online.

Registration is $15, plus eventbrite fees. This registration fee enables us to pay for dinner for in-person attendees and for the broadcast equipment to enable online attendance.

If this cost is a financial barrier to your participation, please fill out this scholarship application: https://ume.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5BwkBtD8wSdTNdQ

Learn how to create your own unique soaps.  This workshop will cover everything from ingredients to techniques.  Learn which ingredients to use, how to cut and label the final product, equipment needed, and safety procedures.

Get cozy while learning about how types of tea are grown and looking at tea's connection to American history. 

The use of deicing salts and rising sea level is increasingly making our surface and ground water more saline. This issue has major implications on aquatic ecosystems and the numerous species that depend on them. In addition, increasing salinity can increase corrosion with subsequent infrastructure damage and releasing toxic metals in our drinking water. This webinar will discuss the impact of this issue, ways to reduce impacts and protect drinking water quality.

Wells are a significant source of drinking water for Americans. Well water is not regulated as are public water supplies, and therefore the well owner is responsible to test, if necessary, treat the water. This webinar will cover basic well design and types, wellhead protection measures, how to test your well and review basic water filtration.

Plastics have been around for decades and as they break down into small particles, micro and nano plastics pollution is everywhere. This includes air, rain, surface and groundwater, animals, plants, some of the foods we eat, and even in human body tissue. Tune into this webinar to learn more about how we can reduce our exposure while being better stewards of our environment.