Today is National Ag Day, a day dedicated by the Agricultural Council of America to making Americans aware of where their food comes from and who produces it.
The Agriculture Council of America (ACA) is an organization uniquely composed of leaders in the agriculture, food and fiber communities dedicated to increasing the public awareness of agriculture's vital role in our society. The Agriculture Council of America and the National Ag Day program was started in 1973.
ACA believes that every American should:
n Understand how food and fiber products are produced.
n Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.
n Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy.
n Acknowledge and consider career opportunities in the agriculture, food and fiber industry.
The primary focus of ACA is to conduct the National Agriculture Day Program which occurs in March of every year.
Toward that end, ACA will:
n Support and encourage programs and activities in observance of National Agriculture Day by organizations, companies and individuals.
n Provide planning information and materials in support of National Agriculture Day programs and activities.
n Inform trade and general media about National Agriculture Day and provide information to increase awareness.
n Involve the agricultural public relations community in support of National Agriculture Day.
According to the USDA, Iowa ranks first in the following areas of agriculture:
n All hogs and pigs inventory.
n All hogs and pigs value.
n Capacity of commercial grain facilities.
n Capacity of on-farm storage.
n Capacity of total storage.
n Commercial hog slaughter.
n Corn for grain production.
n Egg production.
n Feed grains and products export value.
n Field and miscellaneous crop value.
n Harvested acreage of principal crops.
n Live animals and meat export value.
n Pig crop.
n Soybean production.
n Soybean and products export value.
Beyond this, though, there's the secondary impact of agriculture on our state's economy. Farmers buy implements, vehicles, homes and retail products. They send their children to college, and those children in turn work to improve the quality of life in Iowa as well as the rest of the nation.
Because of farmers, we have meat and grain processing facilities, seed companies, ethanol and biodiesel plants and grain-based manufacturing in our state.
And it's all because of agriculture. And America's farmers are by far the most productive in the world.
So the next time you see a farmer, thank him or her (yes, there are a lot of women farmers, too).
And as the bumper sticker says, don't criticize farmers with your mouth full.