Farm Partner Spotlight: Black Gold Farms

Halfway between the Choptank River and the Delaware line in Dorchester County, Black Gold Farms’ Nicole Wickham and Megan Davidson are helping make sure that hungry Marylanders have easier access to fresh and nutritious local vegetables, while also keeping unwanted produce from spoiling or being unnecessarily thrown away.

Over the past 15 years, Black Gold has grown from produce provider to passionate partner.

“Our customers have specifications for product, and anything that didn’t meet that specification was likely to hit the dirt pile out back, unless we found a place where we could put it to use elsewhere, and that’s where it all started—with donations during harvest,” shared Nicole.

The next season, the farm expanded their relationship with the Maryland Food Bank, joining our Farm to Food Bank Program, led by Amy Cawley. The program engages farms across the state to provide produce to food-insecure Marylanders in need.

“We started doing fundraising events, so the food bank could use the money towards whatever their needs were. In more recent years, we have been specifically planting crops (based on Amy’s feedback) to donate back to the food bank,” she added.

Different Experiences Lead to a Unique Perspective

Hailing from a potato family in an agricultural community in western New York state, Nicole moved to what she calls “big city living” in Orlando but has been happy to “return to a rural agriculture” community, serving as Black Gold Farms office administrator for 14 years.

Nicole’s experience offers her a unique perspective on Maryland, explaining why she believes so much of Maryland’s agriculture still takes place on the Eastern Shore.

“Over here, we have towns that were established in the 1600s, and I’m pretty sure farming was all they were doing back then to make a living,” she said. “But on the western side, industrialization hit them earlier than here, so that’s probably why we still maintain such a rich agricultural community here,” she continued.

Crop Scientist, Entomology Explorer, Soil Investigator

Agronomist Megan Davidson’s daily routine requires a varied skill set, one that she is quite proud of.

“Day-to-day during growing season, I’m scouting the fields for insects and weeds, looking at soil reports to stay on top of fertility, ordering chemical sprays—basically everything required in the field to physically grow a crop, minus equipment,” she said.

In some countries, as much as 80% of the agricultural workforce is comprised of women, but in the United States, women account for only 36% of industry workers.

“I think the general public has misconceptions about agriculture in general, especially women in agriculture,” Megan said. “Agriculture is not just boots in the dirt work anymore. There’s IT for precision; there’s sales, marketing, research, there’s all of these other areas that are involved in agriculture, and women play huge parts in that,” she continued. But Megan chose the boot route, going to college for Agronomy, but with a twist.

“There were six of us in my graduating class for that major and I was the only girl; the rest were men who were going on to their family farms. I was the only one who was doing extension work and research.”

A Positive Perspective on Partnership

In reflecting on the farm’s role in helping to feed Marylanders, Nicole describes a sense of community and feels an obligation to support it.

“It’s a perfect fit for us—we’re farmers and we’re growing food—if we can provide a food source for our customers to then get to the public, we can find room to grow food to share with our neighbors.”

Nicole and Megan find the work hard but fulfilling.

“It’s nice when you can put effort towards something that is just rewarding—no strings attached, just an honest and noble cause,” said Megan.

Picking up on that sentiment, Nicole put the entire partnership in perspective.

“A couple of weeks ago, Amy came from the food bank to help glean some turnip fields, and I realized, this turnip that I have in my hand eventually is going to make it to somebody’s plate with no obligation. It’s just going to feed them, and I think that that’s honorable.”

Black Gold Farms is one of the many partners that helps the Maryland Food Bank ensure neighbors in need have nutritious food on their tables.

Our Farm to Food Bank program, combined with donations and food purchases, means that we were able to help food-insecure Marylanders access millions of pounds of healthy, fresh produce annually – more than 15 million pounds in FY25.