The 2025 Mid-Atlantic Master Farmers each have unique operations, and they encompass everything that’s unique about agriculture in the Mid-Atlantic.
The 2025 class includes:
- Doug Lechilder, owner of Laytonsville Turf Farm in Gaithersburg, Md.
- Debra and William Bryant, owners of Highland Farm, a 100-cow dairy farm in Honesdale, Pa.
- Ryan Graham, owner of Graham Farm, a 1,600-acre field crop operation near Butler, Pa.
The ‘Oscars’ of farming
The Mid-Atlantic Master Farmers is America’s longest running and most prestigious agricultural honors program.
It sprouted in 1927 as part of a Master Farmers of America program to foster stewardship and leadership. At that point, the program was initiated by Pennsylvania Farmer magazine and USDA.
Today, the award is co-sponsored by American Agriculturist magazine and by Cooperative Extension programs in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia. Horizon Farm Credit and FS/Growmark are supportive partners.
It is the lifetime achievement award of agriculture that recognizes exemplary role models of outstanding management, land stewardship and community leadership.
Showcase of Delmarva
This year’s Master Farmers will be honored July 17 at the Mid-Atlantic Master Farmers Association’s annual banquet at the East New Market Fire Hall just outside Cambridge, Md.
The annual tour will be held the next day, July 18. Stops include the 800-acre Horn Point Laboratory on the Choptank River, a national leader in applying environmental research and discovery to solve society’s most pressing environmental problems; Luthy Farm; and Layton’s Chance Vineyard and Winery.
All proceeds benefit the Mid-Atlantic Master Farmers Association Scholarship Fund.
Tour tickets, including lunch, are $85 each. There are a limited number of overnight rooms available at the Holiday Inn Express in Cambridge.
For more information and to register for this year’s banquet and tour, go to http://bit.ly/4duQOOA or email chris.torres@farmprogress.com or tyler@taskharvesting.com.
For more information, contact Chris Torres at chris.torres@farmprogress.com or 717-679-2677.
Interested in becoming a MAMFA banquet sponsor? Contact us today at info.mamfa@gmail.com to learn more.
