Some farmers in Baltimore County believe they are being neglected. They cite as Exhibit A the Baltimore County Agricultural Center in Cockeysville, which has a history of mismanagement and has been the subject of an investigation by the inspector general.

They are calling for the creation of a county Department of Agriculture that can run the center and solely focus on helping farmers.

Christy Ottinger was recently watering the vegetables she has growing in the greenhouse at the Ag Center.

“This has our lettuces, kale, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach,” Ottinger said.

She’s getting them ready to plant at Kitchen Girl Farm, which she owns with her husband in Parkton. They are first generation farmers. They can’t afford their own greenhouse so they used to have to pay someone else to get their vegetables ready to put in the ground.

Ottinger said, “Being able to use this greenhouse has saved our business tens of thousands of dollars. I’m not exaggerating there.”

But for years Ottinger says she was told she couldn’t use it.

“During that time actually I was asking the Ag Center about this greenhouse because I knew it was empty,” Ottinger said. “I would periodically just come walk by and check on it and knew it was empty, could see it sitting here, knowing that I needed it, and being told no.”

A January 2021 Inspector General’s report backs that up.

It cited more than $1 million in wasteful spending at the Ag center, including $630,000 on the greenhouse that was hardly being used.

Inspector General Kelly Madigan also reported in 2021 that two former supervisors at the Ag Center used county purchase cards inappropriately.

Republican Councilman Wade Kach, who represents the rural north county, calls the Ag Center a sad situation.

Kach said, “The purpose of the Ag Center was to promote agriculture in Baltimore County and in the country.”

Kach said that isn’t happening and a big reason why is that it’s run by the Recreation and Parks Department.

Jonathan Albright, a sixth generation county farmer and the president of the Baltimore County Farm Bureau, agrees.

“They’re there to service parks and offer a service to the community, where agriculture is kind of focused differently,” Albright said. “You want to see fields. You want to see crops. You’re going to see certain things that you’re not going to see in a park normally.”

The responsibility for agriculture is currently divvied up over various government agencies, such as recreation and parks, economic development and planning.

Councilman Kach is proposing to bring it under one roof, a new Department of Agriculture.

“It’s imperative that this happen, that we have a department that their main and only function is agriculture,” Kach said.

The councilman has the support of Kevin Atticks, Maryland’s Secretary of Agriculture, who says local Ag departments have a positive impact helping farmers do business.

“It is obvious for there to be a Department of Agriculture (in Baltimore County),” Atticks said.

According to 2022 federal data, agriculture is a $93 million business in Baltimore County, which is home to 783 farms.

According to the county, the Ag Center costs about $1 million annually.

County officials disagree with Kach’s call to create an Agriculture Department. They say the sins of the past at the Ag Center are being corrected.

They are taking applications from people who may want to take advantage of the greenhouse.

Jess Armacost, the county’s chief of agriculture, said there also is a plan to get an unused commercial kitchen up and running for farmers to use.

Armacost said, “Transitioning this space into being a work kitchen for folks to be able to can or process.”

She doesn’t know when that will happen.

Armacost’s office is within the county’s economic development department.

“The division of Agriculture is really just, kind of a baby, less than three years old,” Armacost said. “You can’t stand up everything overnight.”

Another Ag center issue is what happened to more than $500,000 of farm equipment purchased between 2016 and 2018. According to that 2021 IG report, the equipment was little used and improperly stored.

When asked about the status of the equipment Armacost and Sameer Sidh, the county’s senior deputy administrative officer, were unsure.

“We appreciate the inspector general’s report, the intent of those reports is to help us get better as a government,” Sidh said. “This is one area where I think there is room for improvement in terms of management of that equipment.”

Sidh said the proposed Ag department is a solution looking for a problem.

In addition to Armacost’s office, the county in 2024 created an Agriculture Advisory Board to help support and promote the industry.

He points out that there are various government offices at the Ag Center to help out farmers, such as the Soil Conservation District and the Maryland Agricultural Resource Council.

Sidh said even if an Ag Department existed, it would still have to work with other parts of the county government on issues like zoning, permits and environmental regulations.

And then there’s the cost.

“We’re looking at a $500,000 a year cost just to start up,” Sidh said.

Councilman Kach and others have disputed that figure.

If Kach’s proposal for an Ag department passes the council, it will be put to the voters on the November 2026 ballot.

The county council is holding a public hearing Tuesday night and is expected to vote on it on Tuesday, September 2.