03/22/06 National Ag Day

Monday, March 20th, the first day of spring. Most of us knew that but few people in America realize that Monday was also National Ag Day. Thanks to US Ag Census and USDA here are some facts you should know. One farmer now provides food for 129 people in America and abroad. In 1960 it was one farmer feeding nearly 26 people. More than 15 percent of the US population is employed on the farm or in related jobs including processing, marketing and sales. We have the most affordable food. Americans spend ten percent of their disposable income on food while the French spend 18 percent, 51 percent in India. Farmers and ranchers receive 19 cents out of every dollar spent on food eaten in or out of the home. The other 81 percent of the money goes to processing, distributing, wholesaling and retailing the food. More women are involved. Over 236 thousand women nationwide were operating farms in 2002, nearly 13 percent higher than 1997. Idaho has 25 thousand farms with an average size of 472 acres. A recent University of Idaho analysis put the state's crop and livestock value at 4.5 billion dollars. For more general information about National Ag Day go to http://www.agday.org. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott