Maryland’s craft beverage industry gets an infusion of grant money

Maryland s makers of beer wine and spirits are seeing an infusion of cash in the form of grants to help promote their products and expand their operations Gov Wes Moore informed the million in grants for applicants across the state on Wednesday The state s Winery and Vineyard Economic Maturation Grant initiative awarded million to applicants for the purchase and installation of equipment for production Kevin Atticks the Maryland secretary of agriculture described WTOP that the state s wine industry is seeing solid advance Frederick is one of the central locations for this industry he reported noting that the county has the highest number of wineries in Maryland Western Maryland is really kicking it up with particular great wineries and new distilleries that are coming on line Several that are exporting around the world which is pretty exciting The craft beverage industry isn t limited to the state s agricultural zones Atticks announced Baltimore City is a hot spot for brewing craft beers and producing spirits he mentioned The trend is helping families that may be have been farming for generations but have felt contemporary economic and progress pressures Now with smaller acreage you ve got to figure out what you can do to bring in the the bulk revenue and keep that family farm he disclosed While the number of farms that operate on a large scale may be fewer in number farmers are getting creative with what they produce and how they territory Atticks announced Maryland s farmers have long worked to keep young people interested in agriculture and Atticks stated finding strategies to promote their products in avenues that connect with markets has been critical He revealed the dairy industry provides a good example In the episode of farm families who ve been working the land for generations we re seeing the younger generations wanting to make butter yogurt cheese sell milk from the farm make their own ice cream he revealed We re also seeing this incredible influx of brand-new farmers who come to the industry without any prior connections he added And they re coming in wanting to grow things to feed people whether that s grow food for food banks grow food for stores grow food for the local farmer s arena or grow food specifically for a local co-op or shop There is an intense interest in farming and feeding people And we re here to backing that Atticks explained Source