A president once said:

“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson

A mildly inappropriate man once joked:

“If you tickle the earth with a hoe she laughs with a harvest.” – Douglas Jerrold

A country music star once sang:

“Yea, and what they call work, digging in the dirt, gotta get it in the ground ‘fore the rain come down.” – “Boys Round Here” by Blake Shelton

Today, in honor of National Agriculture Day, we can read these words (or sing them) to celebrate the importance of growing crops and rearing animals to provide food, clothing and thousands of products we often use without much thought.

That, in many ways, is what today is all about. This program, which was created by the Agriculture Council of America, seeks to build an understanding and respect for the farmers who continue to do more with less for an ever-growing global population. According to the USDA’s 2012 census, half of America’s producers are over 60 years old. As a result, an estimated 70 percent of farmland will change hands by 2020. By building awareness, Ag Day encourages young people to consider career opportunities in agriculture – and they should, now is the time!

 

On average, each American farmer feeds more than 144 people (a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s according to AgDay.org). As the world population increases, so does our quest for food security and American agriculture is not only doing more with less; it’s doing it better.

Here at Lessing-Flynn, we’re proud to partner with innovative ag companies, many of them family-owned and based right here in Iowa, that help the farming community work more efficiently. We’re so proud, in fact, that we would like to leave you with one last thought:

“Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.” – Daniel Webster

Be a founder. Be a farmer. Happy Agriculture Day!