National Agriculture Day 2014

Last summer B, Roxie Kyle, and I traveled to our nation’s capital.  It is truly one of my favorite places to visit in the U.S.  One of my dear friends moved there several years ago and I have been able to visit her several times.  Typically, the visits include trying out new restaurants she has discovered, an attraction I haven’t seen before, or maybe a baseball game.  But this visit was different.  I wasn’t just traveling as a tourist but as an advocate.  An advocate for agriculture.

While my family was in D.C. I experienced something I have never experienced before.  An awareness of passion.  Passion for something we, as a family, believe in and depend on for our livelihood.  But it wasn’t just our passion that I sensed.  I realized that this city is filled with passion.  Is there another place in this country where people are working and living their lives with the the sole purpose of standing up for, bringing awareness to, and advocating for their passion?!  Whoa!  At this realization I took a second look at my passion.  The very passion that prompted us to make the trek to this city.

Agriculture has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  I’m a farmer’s kid so I spent many long, hot hours on a tractor cutting and raking hay.  And at that point in my life it was something I had to do in order to help pay some college expenses.  Over the years agriculture has continued to be a part of my life.  My college major was agriculture business and I married an agricultural education teacher who is now a full-time farmer.  For years, these experiences were what defined my passion for agriculture.  However, during that trip to D.C. my perspective shifted.  Where would I be, where would the world be without agriculture?  I couldn’t imagine the answer.  And my passion grew.

There is very little that we touch throughout the day that isn’t in some form or fashion related to agriculture.  In my 4-H Acres of Adventure class we discussed how agriculture is all around us.  Maybe you sleep on cotton sheets or use a cotton bath towel.  Who grew that cotton? Maybe your children colored with crayons made from soybean oil.  Who grew the soybeans?  Maybe you eat a cheeseburger for lunch.  Who raised that beef?  We went on to discuss the variety of jobs that are related to agriculture.  The number of jobs provided by the agriculture industry reaches far beyond a farmer in the field.  Can you imagine even a day without agriculture?

That is why I am passionate.  We need agriculture.  It’s a part of us.  Today, on this 2014 National Agriculture Day I celebrate the contribution of agriculture in our everyday lives!

 

To learn more about National Ag Day click here.

For fun facts about agriculture click here.

An agriculture reading list can be found here.

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