Cyndi's Two Cents

Agriculture is economic driver

Although it’s finally officially Spring I have friends in many parts of the country that tell me it still feels much more like February than March. It has indeed been a long, cold and windy winter.

This is National Agriculture Week, a great time to highlight the success of the agriculture industry. But this message needs to be shared throughout the year. Agriculture is a huge economic driver in the Midwest. The sizeable income tax and property tax revenue generated by agriculture helps build and maintain roads and schools across the heartland. Billions more dollars churn into the Midwestern economy from farm machinery manufacturing, agricultural real estate, and the processing and sale of value-added food products.

The productivity of American farmers is second to none in the world, and as the population of this world we live continues to grow, the role of America’s farmers and their contribution to feeding the world becomes more significant. I’ve heard many experts say that the global population will reach 9 billion in the next 30 years. Other experts say that as large segments of the population rise from poverty to the middle class, they have fewer children and thus, we won’t reach that 9 billion figure.

Either way, the demand for that which farmers in this country raise will continue to rise. People with more money will spend more money on food. They will add more meat to their diets.

Listening to and reading agricultural reports, I hear plenty about the importance of sustainability. Although everyone has their own definition for it, the bottom line is that we are going to have to do more and do better with less land, less water and fewer inputs. We are going to have to invest more money for use of the land, water and inputs that are available.

Most farmers I know have been practicing sustainability for years. If you are going to be economically sound, you must find ways to be more efficient. And, most farmers live where they grow the food that feeds the rest of the world. They raise their families on those farms.

Unlike so many other countries, American consumers spend only 7 cents out of every dollar on food. That’s half what is spent in Japan. Did you know that? Does your neighbor know that? Would your dentist, your pastor, your insurance agent, and the teachers at your school be surprised to hear this?

Fewer kids grow up on farms today. Without the daily exposure to life on a farm, it is easier to believe the misinformation and blatant lies being told about the way American farmers treat their land, air, water, animals, and the people employed on those farms. During National Agriculture Week, there is a lot of talk about recognizing and celebrating the abundance provided by agriculture in the United States. We need to go out and tell our story every day, not just one week each year.

There is no time like the present to get started!