Showing posts with label Ag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ag. Show all posts

Thursday, February 7, 2019

USDA launches high-speed broadband e-connectivity resource guide


Broadband e-connectivity guide available

USDA launches high-speed broadband e-connectivity resource guide

PUBLISHED ON February 6, 2019

WASHINGTON — Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today announced the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched a new toolkit to help support the deployment of high-speed broadband e-Connectivity in rural communities.

“High-speed broadband e-Connectivity is becoming more and more essential to doing business, delivering health care, and, for schoolchildren, doing homework in rural communities,” Hazlett said. “This user-friendly tool will help rural customers find the many resources USDA has available to support the expansion and use of e-Connectivity in rural America.”

The e-Connectivity Toolkit (PDF, 4.3 MB) features 27 USDA programs that support broadband deployment. The easy-to-use resource is a simple guide that allows customers to identify their type of e-Connectivity project and locate resources the federal government offers for planning, equipment, construction, research and other e-Connectivity projects. Resources such as grants, loans and technical assistance are available from multiple Mission Areas at USDA, including Rural Development, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Forest Service.

The toolkit highlights examples of how e-Connectivity resources are being used to increase access to broadband services in rural communities. It is free and available to the public online, and can be easily printed for offline use.

USDA’s launch of the e-Connectivity Toolkit closely follows Secretary Sonny Perdue’s unveiling of the ReConnect Program, a pilot program authorized by the Consolidated Budget Act of 2018, to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas that lack sufficient access to broadband.

In April 2017, President Donald J. Trump established the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity to identify legislative, regulatory and policy changes that could promote agriculture and prosperity in rural communities. In January 2018, Secretary Perdue presented the Task Force’s findings to President Trump. These findings included 31 recommendations to align the federal government with state, local and tribal governments to take advantage of opportunities that exist in rural America. Increasing investments in rural infrastructure is a key recommendation of the task force.

To view the report in its entirety, please view the Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (PDF, 5.4 MB). In addition, to view the categories of the recommendations, please view the Rural Prosperity infographic (PDF, 190 KB).

USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities and create jobs in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.

–USDA

For more articles concerning infrastructure, click here.
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Carroll County Times: www.tinyurl.com/KED-CCT
Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: http://tinyurl.com/KED-Sun
Westminster Fire Dept. and MTA Lodge #20 Chaplain and PIO
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Time Flies: https://kevindayhoff.wordpress.com/

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Bowman family awarded annual Ag Center Pioneer Award

A year ago, I wrote - Time Flies “Bowman family awarded annual Ag Center Pioneer Award” by Kevin Dayhoff February 24, 2017


Romantic that I am, I took my wife out on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, to the annual Carroll County Agriculture Center dinner. Since 1993, the annual dinner has been used as an opportunity to honor individuals and businesses with the "Pioneer Award," in recognition for longstanding service to the Carroll County agriculture community and the Agriculture Center,

This year's award went to the R.D. Bowman family, which has been a cornerstone of the agricultural community through the family businesses that date back to 1928. Dirk Bowman and his wife Julie attended the dinner to receive the award on behalf of the family.

Dirk, his brother Dale, and his sister Dawn DeVivo are the third-generation owners of the Westminster feed sales business, R.D. Bowman & Sons Inc., and the Home & Garden Center, which opened in 1981.

According to a March 24, 1993 article in The Baltimore Sun by writers Ellie Baublitz and Tom Keyser, "In 1928, Ralph Dutterer Bowman bought a little country grocery store in Union Mills on a dirt road that is now Route 97, or Littlestown Pike. He operated the store for more than 30 years, during which time the big event was the Friday night banana auction.


Baltimore Sun - Carroll County Times - The Carroll Eagle: www.explorecarroll.com: http://www.explorecarroll.com/search/?s=Dayhoff&action=GO

Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Monday, January 30, 2017

2017 Horse Fair Tack Sale to benefit the 4-H Therapeutic Riding March 26, 2017


2017 Horse Fair Tack Sale to benefit the 4-H Therapeutic Riding March 26, 2017  http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2017/01/2017-horse-fair-tack-sale-to-benefit-4.html

Join us at the 2017 Horse Fair Tack Sale to benefit the 4-H Therapeutic Riding
Program of Carroll County on March 26, 2017

When: March 26, 2017
Time: 9:00 AM- 2:00 PM
Where: Shipley Arena at the Carroll County Ag Center
What: Tack sale/swap

New and Used tack, equipment, clothes, and supplies, just in time for spring riding!

No Entry Fee Just come and shop!

Spaces are available for you or your organization to sell your horse related goods, services and supplies: 10x12 ft space is $30 for the first space, $20 for each additional space for more information or to reserve a space, email Karen at trp4h@comcast.net


Shots and Coggins Clinic: Make a reservation now to bring your horses and have shots done on the trailer ­ Contact Mary at mstheretreat99@gmail.com or call her at 443-465-7809.
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20070721 For more posts on Soundtrack about the 4H TRP

For more posts on the 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program of Carroll County on “Soundtrack”go here: http://tinyurl.com/qltzfn  The web site may be found here: http://www.trp4h.org/


Disclosure: I volunteer with the 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program of Carroll County








Baltimore Sun - Carroll County Times - The Carroll Eagle: www.explorecarroll.com: http://www.explorecarroll.com/search/?s=Dayhoff&action=GO

Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation Board of Trustees

Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees


Retrieved May 3, 2016

Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation


The Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation is administered by a thirteen-member Board of Trustees which includes the State's Comptroller, Treasurer, Secretary of Agriculture, and Secretary of Planning, all of whom serve as "ex officio" members. The other nine members of the Board serve "at-large" and represent various regions of the State.

All members are appointed by the Governor and serve a term of four years. At least five of the at-large members are farmer representatives; the Board has representation from the Maryland Agricultural Commission, the Maryland Farm Bureau, the Maryland State Grange, the Maryland Young Farmers' Advisory Board, and the State's forestry industry.

Responsibilities of the Foundation's Board of Trustees include

Disseminating information to farmland owners and other Maryland citizens;

Providing assistance and coordination to the twenty-three Agricultural Land Preservation Advisory Boards;

Promulgating program rules, regulations, and procedures;

Reviewing and approving easement applications; and

Acquiring by purchase or donation, agricultural land preservation easements on productive agricultural land.

Members of the Board Trustees


Bernard L. Jones, Sr.
Acting-Chair, Board of Trustees
At-large Representative
Carroll County resident
Appointed:  2010

Michael Calkins
Young Farmers' Advisory Board Representative
Howard County resident
Appointed:  2014

Craig Highfield
At-large Representative
Anne Arundel County resident
Appointed:  2013

Patricia A. Langenfelder
At-large Representative
Kent County resident
Appointed:  2013

Donald T. Moore
Maryland Grange Representative
Cecil County resident
Appointed:  2009

James B. “Bubby” Norris, Jr.
At-large Representative
St. Mary’s County resident
Appointed:  2009
 
Jonathan Quinn
At-large Representative
Cecil County resident
Appointed:  2008

Eugene B. Roberts, Jr.
Agriculture Commission Representative
Howard County resident
Appointed:  2011

Honorable Peter Franchot
State Comptroller
Ex Officio Member
Represented by Jerome Klasmeier
 
Honorable David R. Craig        
Secretary of Planning
Ex Officio Member
Represented by Daniel Rosen        

Honorable Nancy K. Kopp
State Treasurer
Ex Officio Member        
Represented by Susanne Brogan
 
Honorable Joe Bartenfelder
Secretary of Agriculture
Ex Officio Member

Represented by James P. Eichhorst
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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Thursday, May 14, 2015

February 27, 2005 Baltimore Sun: Maryland braces for the arrival of much-feared soybean disease

February 27, 2005 Baltimore Sun: Maryland braces for the arrival of much-feared soybean disease 

May 14, 2015 - - A reader recently asked about this and sadly the link to the story is dead. Ten years ago, one of the big Ag stories in Maryland was the concern over Asian soybean rust coming to Carroll County and Maryland… I am not sure that I am knowledgeable enough about soybeans to write a follow-up, but I will look into it…  

The story was reported by Ted Shelsby for the Baltimore Sun. I’d simply link to the story but the link is dead…

Maryland braces for the arrival of much-feared soybean disease



http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-ha.ag27feb27,1,3281526.story?coll=bal-local-harford Dead Link

On The Farm

By Ted Shelsby, Sun Staff, February 27, 2005

Maryland farmers are preparing for an invasion of the dreaded soybean rust.

What sounds like something from a grade-B horror movie actually represents a potentially devastating economic problem for one of the largest segments of the state's agriculture industry - soybeans.

Soybean rust, or Asian soybean rust, is a highly contagious fungal disease that has been steadily creeping toward Maryland from the Deep South since it was discovered in Louisiana a little more than a year ago.
In other parts of the world, including southern Africa and South America, it has reduced soybean yields by as much as 80 percent when left untreated.

"Yeah, we know we face the threat," said Lewis R. Riley, Maryland's agricultural secretary. "There's a chance that it will show up here this year, but we are hoping it won't."

Farmers need to be prepared and they will have to keep a sharp eye out for the fungus," Riley said. "You have really got to get out into the field, part the plants and look at the leaves down near the roots. That's where you are going to see the first signs of an infestation.

"If you see it [signs of an outbreak] while driving by your field in a pickup, it is too late. It has gone too far for any remedy," he said.

So far, soybean rust has been confirmed in nine states: Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Maryland officials have watched it spread state-by-state, the most recent being Tennessee, and wonder when the first signs of a blight on soybean plant leaves will show up in fields here.

"It is something we are watching very closely," Riley said.

The fungus poses no threat to humans, but it can have a serious economic impact on farming.

To help fight the battle against the spreading disease, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of more than a half-dozen fungicides.

"We don't know how effective they will be," Riley said. "But there are indications that if a farmer catches the problem early, these sprays can be very helpful."

Soybean rust is spread by the wind.

Agricultural scientists said the fungus most likely made its way into the United States last year from South America by catching a ride on the winds of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan.

It was discovered in Japan in 1902. It moved through Asia, Australia and Africa before making its way to Brazil and Argentina in 2000.

Agricultural officials warn that the windblown fungus can travel more than 1,000 miles a year, well within the range of Maryland grain fields this year.

There is also concern that it could affect other plants, such as green beans and snap beans. "We grow a lot of green beans in Carroll and Frederick counties and lima beans on the central Shore," Riley said. "That's another reason to watch the spread of this disease very, very carefully.

"We don't know that soybean rust will spread to Maryland in the next year or so, but we have been preparing to handle such a situation for some time."

Riley said the department, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland, "scored high marks" during an exercise last year simulating the detection of the disease in the soybean-producing region of Delmarva.

Despite its long history, scientists are not sure how the disease will affect the big U.S. soybean crop.

"So many factors potentially make the management of soybean rust different in the United States than in Asia," said Erick De Wolf, a plant pathologist at Penn State University. "This is a new disease on this continent, so a lot will be determined by where the rust survives, how it moves and which crops are affected."

U.S. farmers planted 74 million acres of soybeans last year, valued at $18 billion.


About 500,000 of Maryland's 1.6 million acres of cropland are planted in soybeans each year. Soybeans, most of which provide feed for poultry and livestock, accounted for $86 million in farm income in 2003 and ranked fifth in farm income behind poultry, greenhouse/nursery, dairy and corn. 

http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/05/february-27-2005-baltimore-sun-maryland.html

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Baltimore Sun Carroll Eagle: 
Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com

My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/


See also - Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf
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Thursday, January 1, 2015

Carroll Gardens was once an important part of the history of the business of agriculture in Carroll County

March 1994 Carroll Gardens perennial mail-order catalogue

Carroll Gardens 444 East Main Street, Westminster, Carroll County Maryland 21157

Labels and keywords: plants, horticulture, perennials, mail-order catalogue, Carroll County, Westminster, Maryland, agriculture, history


I recently came across a box of old plant catalogues, invoices and papers from the years I made a living as a nursery stock farmer, 1974 to 1999. I raised perennials, shrubs and trees. To further make ends meet, I also did landscape design and contracting and property management. It kept me very busy for 25 years. I’ve now been retired from farming for over fifteen years and I still miss it.

I worked for Pasquale Donofrio at Carroll Gardens in the late 1960s. I loved working there.

I also enjoyed working with Alan Summers beginning in 1984, when he purchased the business. It was great to take my landscape design customers there to pick out plants. Mr. Summers was a wealth of knowledge and worked tirelessly to make Carroll Gardens weather the changes in the market and the economy.

The plant mail-order business that Carroll Gardens did so well, was a natural outgrowth of the mercantilist economy that made Carroll County Maryland an agricultural and economic powerhouse for over a hundred years after the American Civil War in the early 1860s.

The unfinished goods were brought to Westminster and Carroll County and exchanged for finished goods. This resulted in accumulated capital that was leveraged into public infrastructure, factories plant and equipment, manufacturing, agri-business and a great quality of life for Carroll County citizens.

The mail-order plant business was a great economic model that we see today repeated in the internet – on an even more global scale. Carroll Gardens did it well.

I retired as a nursery stock farmer– perennial grower in 1994. Changes in the business compressed profit margins and the increases in doing business and difficulties in the regulatory climate, especially in Maryland, simply made it too difficult to continue. Or at least, I was certainly not smart enough to adapt.

Carroll Gardens was once an important part of the history of the business of agriculture in Carroll County - that will no doubt fade into history and it makes me sad...


Economy blights a beloved garden center

Debt, poor sales forcing owner to close Carroll Gardens at end of this month

By Susan Reimer Baltimore Sun reporter

June 2, 2009

Carroll Gardens, a quaint and slightly ragged cinder-block garden center at the end of a dirt road in Westminster, is closing at the end of this month after having been a resource for gardeners since the 1930s.

Alan Summers, who has owned Carroll Gardens since 1984 and hosted a garden talk show on WCBM-AM for nearly as long, announced his decision Saturday on the show, stunning customers and disappointing longtime employees who had hoped against hope for a reprieve….

No hyperlink to this story is readily available…

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Carroll Gardens to Suspend Business

Effective June 30th, 2009, Carroll Gardens will suspend accepting orders for shipment. Our store in Westminster is also scheduled to close on that date. The Saturday morning call-in radio show, which we have provided for the last 20 years, will continue for the foreseeable future. (The Garden Club; WCBM-680AM; 7-8 a.m. Saturday Morning)

To satisfy our creditors, we must raise cash. Our loss is your gain! All products and plants on CarrollGardens.com and in the store are being sold at 25% off, subject to availability and first come first served. If you have gift certificates or credits, please use them now. Your credit card will not be charged until your order is shipped and there can be no backorders.

If Carroll Gardens can resolve its financial problems, we will resume business. We have the potential of an investor which may allow Carroll Gardens to continue. There is one last thing that we are requesting of you. If Carroll Gardens returns, I would like it to be better than it is now. Please send me a brief email describing what Carroll Gardens means to you and what you will miss without Carroll Gardens. (Please send emails to info@carrollgardens.com.)

Carroll Gardens was founded more than 75 years ago as a mail-order company. Through these years, it has been our pleasure to serve you and we truly regret having to suspend business.

Alan L. Summers

President
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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

New Virginia law protects farmers from meddling local officials - by By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D

New Virginia law protects farmers from meddling local officials - by By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D

Fauquier County officials forced family farmer Martha Boneta to cease selling produce from her own 64-acre farm, and so she took action and had Commonwealth law changed... 

Fauquier County Virginia officials threatened a family farmer, Martha Boneta with $5,000 per-day fines for hosting a birthday party for eight 10-year-old girls without a permit...


… opponents of the bill, including well-funded environmental organizations and power-hungry county governments – both determined to preserve strict land-use controls – reportedly employed lobbyists to kill the bill.  In the end, highly motivated citizens triumphed over highly paid lobbyists...





By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. March 31, 2014


In a hard-fought and stunning victory for family farmers and property rights throughout the Commonwealth, Gov. Terry McAuliffe on March 5 signed into law legislation solidifying Virginia’s status as a right-to-farm state by limiting local officials’ ability to interfere with normal agricultural operations.


The governor’s signature marks the latest chapter in a swirling controversy that attracted nationwide attention in 2012 when the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors forced family farmer Martha Boneta to cease selling produce from her own 64-acre farm. No longer allowed to sell the vegetables she had harvested, Boneta donated the food to local charities lest it go to waste.


Fauquier County officials threatened Boneta with $5,000 per-day fines for hosting a birthday party for eight 10-year-old girls without a permit, and advertising pumpkin carvings. Seeing the county’s action against Boneta as a brazen effort to drive her off her land, Virginians from all walks of life rallied to her defense.  Supporters gathered in Warrenton, the county seat, for a peaceful “pitchfork protest” to vent their anger over what an out-of-control local government had done to a law-abiding citizen....


[...]



By contrast, opponents of the bill, including well-funded environmental organizations and power-hungry county governments – both determined to preserve strict land-use controls – reportedly employed lobbyists to kill the bill.  In the end, highly motivated citizens triumphed over highly paid lobbyists...

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Kevin Dayhoff is an artist - and a columnist for:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoffTwitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net

Tumblr: Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems www.kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/
Smurfs: http://babylonfluckjudd.blogspot.com/
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

E-mail: kevindayhoff(at)gmail.com
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
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