By DICK RUSH
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently told a farm group that farmers represent less than 1 percent of the population, and "we've got to convince the other 99 percent of the population that what we do matters to their life." Even though Idaho is a major agricultural producer, many of our citizens don't know much about how food is produced. Maybe it is because American supermarkets are such amazing places that we forget where all that food comes from.
The fresh produce, meat and dairy products on our shelves are astounding. The cereals and breads are so plentiful and various you wonder if anyone has ever taken the time to try them all. The soups, jams, and jellies stretch aisle after aisle.
Nowhere else in the world is such a wide array of food available to everyday consumers. It's important to consider the farmers, ranchers and growers who work every day to produce this bounty of food, fiber and fuel we use every day.
Farmers are skilled business people who work sunrise to sunset most days of the year—weekdays, weekends, even holidays. They pamper the soil and the plants that spring from it, carefully tend to their livestock, steer hundred-thousand-dollar harvesting machines, harvest grains, fruits and vegetables, and still find time to manage their business spreadsheets with the patience of an accountant.
Like you, they earn an income so they can send their children to college, pay the mortgage and put a variety of food on their tables. There are about 2.2 million productive farms in the United States. Most of them are small, family-run operations—and have expenses that can consume as much as 90 percent of their revenue. Many, if not most, farmers and ranchers work other jobs to supplement their incomes.
So what does this hard work of our farmers, ranchers and growers mean to you? In short, a lot.
It means that as a consumer, you pay the smallest percentage of your income for food than consumers in any other nation. It means that the quality of your food and your clothing will always be of the highest grade possible. And it means that in the future, the energy that powers our cars and towns can be rooted in our forests and fields, not in foreign oil fields.
So this week, as you visit the grocery store, a restaurant or farmers market, I'm asking that you join my colleagues and me at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in thanking America's farmers and ranchers. I'm certain they will be grateful to know that their fellow citizens appreciate their role in making America a truly great nation.
Dick Rush is executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Idaho Farm Service Agency.
