national agricultural week

During National Ag Week, we pause to celebrate the many farmers, ranchers and foresters working hard to grow the food, fuel and fiber that sustain each and every one of us.

Mark Anson is one such farmer. Meet Anson, and learn how he’s used soil health practices such as no-till and cover crops to revitalize his family’s 20,000 acre corn and soybeans operation in Monroe City, Indiana.

March is National Nutrition Month. Throughout the month, USDA will be highlighting results of our efforts to improve access to safe, healthy food for all Americans and supporting the health of our next generation.

During National Ag Week we collectively celebrate the food, feed and fiber that U.S. farmers and ranchers provide every day.  Agriculture now and in the future relies on accurate, timely and useful information. My agency is charged with gathering information from farmers, ranchers and others involved in agriculture. We ask for information on a wide variety of topics such as prices, farmland value and availability, sales, age and experience of producers, and where the food on MyPlate is raised. We in turn provide with great pride and gravity the critical public data that are necessary for making informed decisions in business, policy and research.

More often now than in the past, producers are asking why they should provide their information.  To start to explain this, representatives of agricultural organizations who work for producers explain how they use NASS data, why they use NASS data and why farmers should respond to NASS surveys.  Earlier, producers themselves and others in the Ag industry shared their stories about using NASS data. Together, they really start to highlight the value and importance of the information farmers and ranchers provide for us to produce official U.S. statistics on agriculture.

America’s farmers, ranchers and growers are some of our nation’s greatest assets. Not only do we rely on agriculture for our food, feed, fiber, and fuel, our agricultural producers preserve our environment, and help drive our national economy.

As I travel the country, I often ask folks when they last took a moment to thank or appreciate a farmer. The truth is that we owe a debt of gratitude to the hard working men and women who provide us – and much of the world – with a safe, reliable, affordable, and abundant food supply.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the U.S. Department of Agriculture blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the agency’s rich science and research portfolio.

During this week – National Agriculture Week—agriculture groups all across the country are coming together to recognize and promote agriculture’s numerous contributions to society. National Agriculture Week also gives the farm community an opportunity to reach out to students and educators to reinforce the importance of agricultural education in the classroom.  To that end, new classroom lesson plans that meet National Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources standards along with outreach kits are available to teachers and students.