The Pike County Chamber of Commerce/Farm City Committee celebrated National Ag Day, March 14, on Thursday by honoring Pike County farmers with a $500 donation to benefit the tornado victims in Lee County.

Farm City President Deborah Huggins-Davis said individual and business contributions made the donation possible.

“We could think of no better way to celebrate National Ag Day than to honor our farmers with this donation to the tornado victims,” Huggins-Davis said. “National Ag Day is a day to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture. The Pike County Chamber of Commerce/Farm City Committee works throughout the year to increase the public’s awareness of agriculture’s role in all our lives.”

Huggins-Davis said agriculture provides almost everything that is eaten, used and worn on a daily basis and perhaps, too few people understand the contributions farmers make.

Today, each American farmer feeds more than 165 people, which is a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s, she said.

“American agriculture is doing more and doing it better,” Davis said. “As the world population increases at a high rate, there is even greater demand for the food and fiber produced in the United States.”

National Ag Day is organized by the Agriculture Council of America (ACA). ACA is a nonprofit organization composed of leaders in the agricultural, food and fiber community, that dedicates its efforts to increasing the public’s awareness of agriculture’s role in modern society.

National Ag Day is celebrated during National Ag Week, March 10-16, 2019.