National Ag Day celebration highlights importance of American farmer

WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the agricultural industry in many ways, including an increased interest in food production by consumers.

“As we went through this pandemic, we realized our food security was fragile and we saw food insecurity becoming more of a reality,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“People were concerned about where their food was coming from,” said Duvall during the National Ag Day event organized by the Agriculture Council of America. “We have more interest in where food is coming from and the farmers than we ever have.”

This provided an opportunity for farmers to tell their story.

“With the #StillFarming, we touched over 100 million people in over 90 countries,” Duvall said. “This was an opportunity to tell the great story of American agriculture to people who consume our food every day.”

“In 2020, we exported over $4 billion in goods, up 5.6% from the previous year, and that’s the first time exports have surpassed the $4 billion mark in Kansas since 2014,” said Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly.

“Our agricultural exports start with our people and our farmers toil from sun up to sun down to keep high quality, nutritious food on the plates of families across our state, nation and world,” Kelly said.

“When the pandemic started we acted immediately to protect our agricultural workers and the supply chain,” she said. “Kansas is home to several meatpacking plants, so when the crisis worsened we brought in a CDC SWAT team to work with our meatpacking plants and employees to ensure safety protocols were put in place, personal protective equipment and testing was plentiful and congregate housing was available to workers who needed to quarantine.”

Engagement of federal and local partners and businesses in Kansas was important, Kelly said.

“Kansas was the only state in the nation that didn’t shut down any meatpacking production during the pandemic,” she said.

“We were also the first state to prioritize vaccines for frontline workers in the meatpacking industry,” Kelly said. “All plant workers in Kansas who wanted a vaccine have received their first dose and are on track to be fully vaccinated in the next two weeks.”

In addition to short-term solutions, work in Kansas also includes investments for the future.

“We made investments that ensure if we are confronted with a crisis like COVID again, the food supply will be sound,” Kelly said. “We are using nearly $12 million in federal CARES Act funds to award grants to over 250 Kansas-owned food and ag-related businesses.”

These grants have been used by businesses to expand online services and find innovative ways to expand capacity.

“Thanks to these grants meat processing plants across the state can expand cold storage capacity and smaller grocery stores have created systems of online ordering and delivery to serve their communities,” Kelly said.

The forward-thinking projects, Kelly said, will strengthen the agricultural community long after the pandemic is over.

“My administration is committed to supporting agricultural businesses every way we can to continue to promote local growth,” Kelly said.

“By working with public and private partners, we’re confident agriculture is not just a critical part of Kansas’ past and a key economic driver in our present, but it continues to make Kansas strong,” she said.

Farmers must have the tools to compete in today’s competitive world, said Missouri Gov. Mike Parson who also spoke during the virtual event.

“Broadband is one of our priorities and it’s not a matter of funding is a matter of getting it done,” he said. “When I became governor we still had schools in our state that didn’t have broadband capability.”

Workforce development and infrastructure are the top priorities in Missouri, Parson said.

“Both have everything to do with agriculture,” he said. “We’ve got to have the workforce of tomorrow that knows the business side, IT and the financial side.”

In 2019, Missouri created 10,000 new jobs, Parson said.

“That’s over $1 billion worth of new business and a lot has to do with distribution because we’re the crossroads of the USA,” he said. “Anytime we’re expanding rail, highway systems or river ports, it’s good news for the country and state.”

Missouri has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation right now, Parson said.

“We had our state open the entire time,” Parson said.

“There was no playbook for this, so everyone had to do the best they could,” he said. “I knew all along farmers had to be able to go to work, produce the product and sell it.”

Essay Contest

An Ag Day Essay Contest was held as part of the Ag Day event and students submitted over 600 written essays about the theme “Food Brings Everyone to the Table.” Both the winner of the written and video essays received a $1,000 award.

Jaxon Rauber, a high school senior in High Point, North Carolina, won the top honors for his written essay.

“My great-grandfather was an ag teacher in Western New York and his hands were strong and seemed permanently stained with the earth,” Rauber wrote in his essay. “When I was young he put us to work picking strawberries and green beans from the garden or cracking piles of walnuts.”

“My great-grandmother worked magic in a small farmhouse kitchen as she prepared a mouth-watering spread with all we had gathered,” said Rauber in his essay. “I feel fortunate to have had these early experiences. We all know food brings everyone to the table, but agriculture makes it all happen.”

Keerthi Nalabotu, Pleasanton, California, produced the winning video essay.

“This apple is small, but the effort put into getting me this apple is not small at all,” she said in her video. “As our population increases to 9 billion people not even AI or smart phones will matter if our hunger isn’t satisfied.”

“That makes it more pressing for the agricultural industry to find sustainable solutions to producing food with quantity and quality while facing situations like 20,000 jobs left unfilled in this sector every year,” Nalabotu said. “My apple went through a process of growing trees, picking fruits and transporting.”