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SUDLERSVILLE — When registered dietitian Jennie Schmidt married into a family of farmers, she shifted her nutrition expertise from human to soil health to manage a diverse operation growing corn, soybeans, wheat, snap beans and wine grapes at Schmidt Farms in Sudlersville.

“Nutrition is chemistry and biology, agriculture is chemistry and biology,� Jennie says. “I now use my nutrition background applied to a different biological system, plants and soils, rather than humans.�

With her husband Hans Schmidt appointed the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s assistant secretary of resource conservation, Jennie runs the farm with her brother-in-law Alan.

“I went from a career that was predominantly female (dietetics) to a career that is predominantly male. Best decision I ever made,� she said.

There is often a lot of emphasis on generational family legacy farms, she said. Having not grown up on a farm, Schmidt was given opportunities to prove herself and with an industry that respects hard work, she quickly fit right in.

Schmidt became self-sufficient, teaching herself to drive and perform maintenance on every piece of equipment.

Part of the Maryland agriculture scene for 26 years, Schmidt has become an influential advocate for the industry, serving as the first female president of the Maryland Grain Producers Board.

Schmidt also recently participated in a joint United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and State Department program, traveling to Vietnam and Indonesia to connect with women farmers about technology.

Schmidt Farms is home to a variety of vegetables and crops, including soy beans, corn, wheat, and grapes, this diversity gives the farm the ability to spread the risk and not have all its eggs in one basket, so to speak, Schmidt said.

Emphasizing the multiple unknowns and variables that make up farming, a recent frost turned once promising crop of budding grape vines brown and shriveled in the blink of an eye.

With daily work and outcome dictated by mother nature, “You have to be an optimist to be a farmer,� she said.

Still, Schmidt said she loves the independence that farming brings, “I get to wake up everyday and work for myself, I decide what I want to do.�

For younger folks interested in ag, Schmidt noted nothing beats getting your hands dirty with on the job training and internships out in your field of interest.

While she said the Sudlersville farm has a good foundation, overall challenges for the ag industry moving forward include ever increasing prices, tariffs, and the rise of solar arrays. Costs to buy or rent land are enough to give pause to many prospective young farmers.

The United Nations designated 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, spotlighting the essential roles women have long played in agriculture. Women farmers make up nearly a half of the global workforce, and roughly a third of farmers in the U.S.

“I’d say women farmers are still challenged by access to land and access to credit…gender bias in the system still exists globally,� Schmidt said.

The industry is progressing, Schmidt said and the FarmHER campaign through My Maryland Farmers is highlighting women who step up to the plate directly in the fields as well as perform essential behind the scenes work to keep farms operational.

Women farmers have always been here, she said, and while there is still much work to be done, they are now receiving more recognition and acknowledgment of their role in the industry.

More information about My Maryland Farmers and the FarmHER campaign celebrating the women farmers central to the state’s food supply and economy can be found at .