Outlook is Good for Apple Harvest, But Orchards Continue to Shrink

WASHINGTON – Apple production in the state is forecast at 37 million pounds this fall, up from last year’s drought-ravaged harvest but still sharply lower than production in the 1990s

Harvest Time is Also Show Time for Growing Number of ‘Agri-tainment’ Farms

WASHINGTON – Lynn, Guy and Femby Moore grew up watching their father struggle financially, at the mercy of wholesale prices he had no power to change

Crush of Brush Leaves Counties Buried in Mounds of Mulch After Isabel

WASHINGTON – Anne Arundel County is in deep chips

Wheat, Barley Harvests Down Sharply After Cold, Wet Growing Season

WASHINGTON – Maryland small grain production dropped sharply this year, with farmers reporting the lowest average yield for wheat in 24 years and the lowest for barley in 14 years

Lousy Crop on the Vine Doesn’t Make for Good Wine, Grape Growers Say

WASHINGTON – Mike Fiore said this year’s grape crop is the worst he has seen in nearly 20 years of growing grapes in Maryland

With New Respect for Nature, La Plata Preps Calmly, Carefully for Isabel

WASHINGTON – Nearly a year and a half after a tornado damaged La Plata United Methodist Church and destroyed its Blessed Lambs preschool, children returned to brand-new classrooms at the school this fall

Bay Island Residents Rode Out Isabel Without Regrets — or Severe Damage

WASHINGTON – While the wind howled around their house and the tide flooded nearby roads, Smith Island’s Eugene Marshall and his wife, Christine, had a spaghetti dinner, watched the premier of “Survivor: Pearl Islands” and went to sleep

Report Says Maryland Smog Grew in 2002; State Officials Say Numbers are Foggy

WASHINGTON – Maryland had the 12th-worst ozone pollution in the nation last year, recording 40 “smog days” in 2002, according to a study released Tuesday by the Maryland Public Interest Research Group

Farmers Reel as Crops Roll from Dried Out to Washed Out

WASHINGTON – After suffering through last year’s drought, farmer Bobby Hutchison was reminded this year that there can be too much of a good thing