Maryland Horse Industry Board Secretary For the Maryland Department of Agriculture

Earl F. Hance

In May 2009 Governor Martin O’Malley appointed Earl F. Hance as secretary of the Maryland Department of Agriculture, where he had served as deputy for two years. Previously he served as president of the Maryland Farm Bureau, chairman of the Maryland State Tobacco Authority and chairman of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Commission, and was active in numerous farm and civic organizations. At the national level, he represented the northeastern states on the American Farm Bureau Federation and was on the Nationwide Insurance Company Board Council. A former fourth-generation tobacco farmer, Secretary Hance and his family farm 400 acres of corn and soybeans and operate several commercial greenhouses in Southern Maryland.