Fritz Family Farm, Including ANSC Alum, Finds Fame

Nestled in Wakefield Valley of Carroll County, Maryland, the Fritz family has been farming for over a century, passing the land and its legacy down through the generations.

For their continued dedication to Maryland agriculture, Governor Wes Moore and Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks, inducted the family into the Governor’s Agriculture Hall of Fame for 2023.

“My great-great grandparents, they would have been in shock,” said Jessica [Fritz] Little (Animal Science ’00), who runs the farm alongside her father Daniel, her brother Jeffrey and his wife Diana, and husband, Jeff Little. “I hope they’d be proud that it’s still here, that something they started in 1912 is still here, and that it’s thriving and successful.”

Since Charles and Carrie Fritz founded their dairy farm on 90 acres outside of New Windsor in 1912, the Fritz family farm has seen uncounted changes. In 2010, fourth generation Daniel Fritz (Dairy Science ’70) purchased the property and established the farm officially as Fritz Farm, LLC and made his children— Jessica and Jeffrey— minority partners.

Involved with 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) growing up, Fritz always had a passion for working with the dairy cattle on the family farm. “My brother started showing at the county fairs when he was eight, and I naturally followed what he did,” Fritz said. “He gravitated towards the field crop stuff—tractor driving and that sort of thing—but dairy judging was always my favorite.”

Through those years, the Fritz Farm enjoyed profitable milkers and a thriving dairy business. Unfortunately, after a series of tragedies for the family in 2015, including the loss of her grandfather Fritz, her mother’s father, and her mother—within months of one another—Fritz and her immediate family were faced with difficult choices.

Read Full Story in AGNR's
Momentum Magazine, Summer 2023 Edition