National Ag Week
National Ag Week. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
This is the beginning of National Ag Week with Ag Day coming up on Friday. American agriculture is responsible for providing the necessities of everyday life ... food, fiber, clothing and even fuel. Producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and countless others across
BONE: Well I think it’s just an idea that kind of evolved some years ago with Ag Council of America and a number of other interest groups decided that there ought to be a focal point for those people that were very influential in growing and producing food, fiber, shelter here in this country to help acquaint the general public with the value and with how much we owe to such a relatively small percentage of our population.
According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, 50 percent of the farmers are 55 years of age or older, up only three percent from 1997. Average age of the principal operator is 55.3. Bone says one of the reasons for National Ag day is to recruit future Ag leaders.
BONE: It’s one of the biggest questions that we in the Ag industry have today. Where’s our next generation of farmer coming from? Because we’ve not made it the most attractive business to go back into, the rewards haven’t been high and certainly the respect for agriculture is not what it once was in this country. Those of us in the industry are quite concerned about where our replacements are coming from.
Bone adds that young people are a major part of Ag Day.
BONE: We have our essay contest, and the essay contest gives young people an opportunity to present their views and ideas about agriculture and it gives us the opportunity to reward them and show that there is the opportunity to into agriculture and find satisfaction and find rewarding employment.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
