At ‘Oscars of farming,’ Woodbine man earns lifetime achievement award

Woodbine grain farmer Donald Maring was received the Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer lifetime award for land stewardship and community leadership.

Woodbine grain farmer Donald Maring has been named Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer this year for demonstrating exemplary land stewardship and community leadership. The lifetime achievement award is among the most prestigious honors a farmer can receive and has been dubbed the “Oscars of farming,” according to award co-sponsor American Agriculturist magazine.

“It’s quite an honor to receive it,” said Maring, 69. “I look at the list of people who have already been picked for it and it’s quite an honor to be in that group.”

The third-generation grower owns Donald Maring Farm, a 1,300-acre grain crop operation in Woodbine, where he lives with his wife Terri, dogs Hidey and Haley, both Jack Russell terriers, and several barn cats.

Maring built his home on the property alongside his tight-knit family. Maring’s brother also built a home there, and one of their sisters lives in the house where the siblings grew up. Another sister lives in their grandparents’ former home.

Donald Maring Farm produces corn, soybeans, hay and wheat. Maring said he had an interest in grain farming since he was a child and has been farming his land for more than three decades. His philosophy is to be a more discerning farmer, growing higher quality crops.

“It takes a little more time to be a little more particular, to grow better yields,” Maring said. “I have always tried to do a better job on what I have.”

Maring said he is also passionate about helping the public understand the truths of farming and combatting misinformation. The farmer has been a leader on the Carroll Soil Conservation Board and a member of the Maryland Grain Producers Board, among other positions.

“I’ve put in a lot of time over the years,” Maring said. “A lot of it is not just what you do on the farm, it’s the community involvement.”

About half of Carroll County is farmland according to the county’s website, and Carroll has more acres of preserved land than any other Maryland county. County commissioners have invested more than $244 million of the county’s money in land preservation during the last four decades and have achieved about 75% of the county’s goal to permanently preserve at least 100,000 acres of agricultural land.

The county produces more than $100 million worth of agricultural products each year, making agriculture the top industry in Carroll.

The Mid-Atlantic Master Farmers is America’s longest running and most prestigious agricultural honors program, with this year’s inductees being the 91st class, according to American Agriculturist. It began in 1927 as part of a Master Farmers of America program to foster stewardship and leadership. The award is co-sponsored by cooperative extension programs in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and West Virginia.

“I really didn’t expect that we would get this,” Maring said, “I didn’t think we really did anything special. But I guess when you stop and think about it, we try hard to do a very good job and leave the ground and land in a better place, a better condition than it was when we got here. That’s always important.”