Editors' Notebook

Most years, this column starts off with a celebratory tone and lots of exclamation marks. As we celebrate National Ag Day in the United States on March 18, it's certainly my hope that we can do it with all the happiness, thankfulness and hope that can be mustered.

To learn more about this year's celebrations, browse to www.agday.org, and see all the events and recognitions this week, all done under the theme of "Agriculture: Together We Grow."

DTN and Progressive Farmer are long-term supporters of National Ag Day, and we look forward every year to helping celebrate America's farms, farm families and the related agribusiness industry that has made our food and fiber production the envy of the world.

Yet it's an unusual situation we find ourselves in this National Ag Day. The weekend's storms and tornadoes caused wide destruction across a lot of rural America in the Midwest and South. I personally spent time huddled in a stairwell the past weekend while "That Greatest Midwestern Fear" roared just a few blocks from our house in southeast Missouri. According to our DTN meteorological team, it was one of about 100 twisters spawned by the weekend storm system. An ironically positive note there, our team notes that it was expected to be much worse. Thank goodness when some forecasts are a little off the mark.

While we celebrate, we think about those who are dealing with losses, including loved ones lost, from the intense storm system.

We cannot dismiss the ongoing wildfires in Oklahoma, Kansas and other states (https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/…), and our thoughts are with all the farm and ranch families and other people in those areas who are suffering through those battles. We are especially thankful for firefighters who are working so hard to keep the fires at bay.

Lest we forget, we also enter this spring planting season with certainly no respite from the growing division in our country. Some celebrate the chaos and new goals. For those in the crosshairs of that chaos, much like my neighbors who were unfortunately in the path of Friday night's tornado, feelings are much different. It's tough to imagine reconciling those disparate views any time soon.

One of the chief goals of National Ag Day is to connect, in a positive way, those of us in agriculture with our suburban and urban cousins. And to explain, to those who don't have a direct connection to agriculture, just how our food and fiber is produced.

So, my hope for Ag Day 2025 is that, along with the good work of celebrating and appreciating all that agriculture has to offer, we also remember those whose week will be less than celebratory. I also hope that as we work to inform others of what we do, we'll take some time to expand our horizons a bit and learn as much or more about them as we hope they learn about us.

Thank you for being a part of U.S. agriculture!

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

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