Farmers Day is celebrated every year on October 12! The profession of farming began around 12,000 years ago with the domestication of livestock as hunter/gatherers settled down and started to plant their own food.
Agriculture is one of the world’s oldest and vital professions. Farmers have remained one of the highest contributors to economic growth while consistently feeding the people who rely on their goods. Originally referred to as Old Farmer’s Day, National Farmers Day was cultivated to celebrate the hard work farmers put into growing their crops. The date of October 12 came about as it lands toward the end of the traditional harvesting period. Additionally, every three years, the Harvest Moon will fall in early October. Historically, in states in the northern US, the first frost would occur in the beginning of October, if not the middle, requiring many farmers to harvest their crops beforehand to prepare for the winter. Now, because of technological developments in farming practices, the traditional growing period can be prolonged to increase yield and profit, part of the reasoning why National Farmer’s Day tends to extend its celebrations in rural areas throughout the month of October.
Who is the modern farmer? Every 5 years, the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture conducts a census of U.S. farmers.
- While the latest census data shows that the majority of farmers are older (average age: 58+), there are also more young men, women, and minority farmers than ever before.
- You may be surprised to learn that 97.1% of farms in America are family farms (not corporations).
We need farmers of the future to plant, feed, raise, and harvest all of the food that keeps our citizens fed.
Farmers’ contribution to the economy extends well beyond the food they grow for us to eat. In 2019, 22.2 million full- and part-time jobs were related to the agricultural and food sectors—10.9 percent of total U.S. employment.
Farmers keep many communities alive including:
- trucking, railroads, and transportation
- clothing, textiles, and leather goods
- grocery stores, food services, eating and drinking places
- food and beverage manufacturing
- pharmaceuticals
- forestry and fisheries
Remember, Only 2% of us feed and sustain the rest of us! Take a moment today and thank a farmer. And it’s always worth listening one more time to Paul Harvey’s “So God Made a Farmer” Click HERE (Source: The Old Farmer’s Almanac, NationalToday)
