State Representative Richard Adams...
Celebrating “Ohio Agriculture Week” 
March 10, 2012 

Most of the time when we think about agriculture, we probably picture big machinery moving through the fields and livestock grazing in the meadows stretched across vast farmland. But if we were to take a step back and look at agriculture from a broader context, we could recognize and appreciate the important role that agriculture plays in all sectors of the economy. 

Our economy does not operate in a vacuum, with various industries working exclusively from one another. Instead, many industries that we depend on to make our daily lives easier are intertwined and dependent on each other. Agriculture might have more of a hand in this cohesion than any other industry. 

Besides generating nearly $98 billion for our state’s economy each year and hiring one in seven Ohioans, agriculture plays a major role in the employment of countless individuals all over the state and country. Some people make a living by fixing machinery or selling seed, fertilizers or pesticides—people who may never work in the fields themselves, but who play an equally important role in the process of generating the food that feeds our families. 

Construction workers build barns, silos and grain bins for the storage of machinery and grain. Some truckers earn their living by transporting animals and crop yields across the state or even across the country. 

Agriculture continues to evolve, and technology plays an increasingly significant role in the process of producing the crops that fill our dinner tables and help people in need all over the world. I salute the farmers of this state, and especially those in Miami and Darke counties, some of whom I have had the privilege of meeting. The two counties include a combined 2,400 farms totaling 449,000 acres of farmland, according to 2010 statistics released by the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Darke County ranks first among Ohio’s 88 counties in corn for grain, producing more than 20 million bushels each year, and it also ranks first for soybeans with more than 7 million bushels. Just those two crops alone generate more than $123 million annually for the state’s economy. Miami County farmers generate nearly $74 million for the economy from corn and soybean yields each year, as well as nearly $92 million in livestock commodities. 

These figures are impressive standing alone, but are even more outstanding when one thinks about the effect that this production has for Ohio’s economy as a whole. March 11th through the 17th is “Ohio Agriculture Week,” a time when we recognize and celebrate the hard work and countless hours that our state’s farmers put in each year to help put food on our tables. It is important to pay tribute to these hardworking men and women, not only for their contributions to the agriculture industry, but also to the many other industries that benefit because of it.