Pike County will join in the celebration of National Ag Day on Tuesday, March 15.

The Pike County Farm-City Committee of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce is taking the lead in encouraging all Pike Countians to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture.

This year’s National Ag Day celebration will be the 43rd year the nation has come together in an effort to raise awareness of the role agriculture plays in the lives of every American.

Each American farmer feeds more than 144 people … a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s. American agriculture is doing more – and doing it better. As the world population soars, there is an even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the United States, said Kathy Sauer, Pike County Chamber of Commerce president.

“National Ag Day is part of a national effort to tell the true story of American agriculture and remind citizens that agriculture is a part of us all,” said Randy Hale, chairman of the Pike County Farm-City Committee. “Farmers care for livestock year around and row crop farmers will soon be in the fields again to plant grains, cotton, peanuts, fruits and vegetables, which will feed and clothe us all.

“Without agriculture, we don’t eat so it’s important to recognize the work of our farmers.”

Deborah Huggins Davis, president of the Pike County Treasure Forest Association, said forests produce lumber and numerous by-products.

“These products and by-products are truly important to the good quality of life we enjoy in Pike County,” Huggins said.

Ag Day is about recognizing and celebrating the contribution of agriculture in our everyday lives.

The National Ag Day program encourages every American to understand how food and fiber products are produced, value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy and appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.

The theme for 2016 National Ag Day is “Stewards of a Healthy Planet.”

The theme emphasizes how farmers can farm land, crops and forest and animals in an effort to provide healthy food and essential products for others, Hale said.

The Agriculture Council of America hosts the campaign on a national level.