Editors' Notebook

Happy Ag Day! It's hard to believe it's the first day of spring, and even harder to note that it's time for the annual recognition of all that agriculture brings to the United States and the world.

DTN and Progressive Farmer Magazine have long been supporters of National Ag Day, a celebration of farmers, food and fiber production, and all things agriculture. As I write this, farmers, agribusiness leaders, young agriculturalists and others are gearing up for the one day we all celebrate agriculture. Seeing all that effort makes us proud and excited to again be a part of the official Ag Day promotions.

The official day kicks off with a morning government proclamation making March 19 officially National Ag Day around the country. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will present the proclamation to farm leaders at the USDA Whitten Building in Washington. That will be followed by events and congressional visits by farmers, ag youth, agribusiness leaders and others. Separate celebrations, parades and parties are being held across the country this week as local communities recognize the importance agriculture and farming play in their corner of the world.

Those events all are focused on the theme of Agriculture: Growing a Climate for Tomorrow.

To learn more about Ag Day activities, go to AgDay.org. There's a list of all the official events, and links to the virtual presentations that will be running during the day. There are also materials and other resources for anyone wanting to hold Ag Day events of their own. There are also tips on how to get involved in future Ag Day events.

Speaking of the future, one of the recent offspring of the annual Ag Day remembrance is the Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the National Mall. Sponsored by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the multi-day celebration will be May 6-8. The 2024 theme focuses around agriculture's role in a "Sustainable Supply Chain" and aims to highlight the benefits of today's agricultural equipment technology along with gains achieved by producers, agri-business, food processors, and retailers. It will feature examples of modern farm machinery, booths highlighting ag organizations, food-related companies, livestock and technology groups and others involved in food and fiber production. If you are a follower of previous Ag Day activities, you'll recall the initial Mall event in 2022 which was part of that year's Ag Day activities. It was a huge success at showing mostly nonfarm visitors to the DC area what modern agriculture is all about.

For 2024, the event was moved later in the year to avoid any late-winter weather and to also allow for several days of displaying what modern farming is all about. If you're thinking of a trip to the nation's capital this year, you might try to connect that visit with the Mall events. It's sure to make you proud to be part of agriculture, which is a key goal of National Ag Day overall.

Enjoy this day and the entire week of celebrations. And thank you for being involved in U.S. agriculture!

Greg D. Horstmeier can be reached at greg.horstmeier@dtn.com

Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @greghorstmeier

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