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AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT MARKING NATIONAL AGRICULTURE WEEK WITH SCHOOL VISITS
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) will focus on agriculture education to mark National Agriculture Week March 16-22. National Agriculture Day falls on Thursday, March 20, the first day of spring. Staff members from WVDA’s Communications, Marketing and Development, Regulatory and Environmental Affairs and Plant Industries Divisions will spend the week at select elementary schools, working to improve the “agricultural literacy” of the Mountain State’s young people.
National Agriculture Week is celebrated annually throughout America to draw attention to the work of agricultural professionals in a variety of fields, and to remind Americans of the social and economic importance of our nation’s agricultural output.
“The stability of our nation’s food supply provides a massive engine for our nation’s economy and has allowed other aspects of our society to flourish. However, the general public may not fully recognize what is necessary to produce, process, transport and protect the food supply that we all rely upon,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. “Children, in particular, often seem to think that the source of their food is the grocery store. This initiative aims to restore the link between farm and food in the minds of the next generation.”
WVDA staff members will provide a variety of educational presentations and activities. Past attractions have included West Virginia “Ag Jeopardy,” the importance of hand washing with “The Germinator,” an activity on choosing healthier snacks, and a “Bug Safari” on the importance of insects.
West Virginia agriculture facts:
- West Virginia leads the nation in percentage of family-owned farms.
- Hay is West Virginia’s leading crop.
- West Virginia ranked tenth in the nation in apple production in 2006 with 90 million pounds.
- West Virginia is home to approximately 1,000 agribusinesses ranging from cottage industries to farmers’ markets to agritourism enterprises.
- West Virginia produces nearly 90 million broilers (meat chickens) annually.
- West Virginia produces approximately 400,000 head of cattle each year.
- Commercial timberland covers about 80 percent of West Virginia’s land.
- Two out of every three bushels of corn in the world originate in the United States.
- In 2001, 45 percent of the world’s soybeans were grown in the United States.
- American consumers spend the lowest percentage of their annual income on food – just 9.3 percent.
- With modern methods, one acre of land in the U.S. (about the size of a football field) can produce 42,000 pounds of strawberries, 11,000 heads of lettuce, 25,400 pounds of potatoes, 8,900 pounds of sweet corn, or 640 pounds of cotton lint.
- Agriculture is America’s #1 export.
- About 17 percent of raw U.S. agriculture products are exported yearly.
- Agriculture generates 20 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
- One-fourth of the world’s beef and nearly one-fifth of the world’s grain, milk and eggs are produced in the U.S.
- Every hour, the U.S. exports $6 million worth of agricultural products.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture protects plant, animal and human health through a variety of scientific, regulatory and consumer protection programs, as mandated by state law. The Commissioner of Agriculture is one of six statewide elected officials in West Virginia. Currently, Commissioner Gus R. Douglass is the longest-serving agriculture commissioner in the nation. For more information, visit www.wvagriculture.org.
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