During the past year, the Pike County Farm City Committee lost its chairman of nearly a decade and also a longtime dedicated member. So, Chairman Deborah Huggins-Davis elected to get the committee off to an early start for year 2019-2020.

The committee met this week to look back and plan forward.

“Randy Hale had led the committee for so long and we greatly depended on him,” Davis told the committee at its July meeting. “Homer Homann was also a great asset to our committee. We will miss their leadership and commitment. I thought it was important for us to meet and get an early start. Farm-City Week is November 22-28 and that’s not that far away.”

Davis said the theme for Farm-City Week 2019 is “Keep Alabama Growing” and the Pike County Farm-City Committee is dedicated to that purpose.

The bar has been set extremely high for the Pike County Farm City Committee. The committee is coming off a very successful year with a string of Farm City Awards that is topped with the Best Farm City Committee in Division II. The committee also received the Division Media Coverage/Proclamation Award and the Target Award for adhering to the 2018 theme of “200 Years of Alabama Agriculture.”

Davis said expectations are that the committee will be actively committed to “Keep Alabama Growing” as it embarks on a very ambitious schedule of events and activities throughout the year that includes those that have proven to be successful over the years.

Topping the list of tried and true events are the annual Farm-City Banquet that recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to agriculture during the year, Pike County Farm Day at Cattleman Park, Pioneer Days at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama, Classroom in the Forest at Renfroe Farms and Company Day where committee members tour an agriculture-related business.

The Pike County Farm City Committee also hosts and supports a variety of other events and activities including Take a Kid Fishing Day, the Peanut Butter Festival Parade, Junior Ambassador Day, Touch-a-Tractor, farm-related displays at the Pike County Fair and local libraries, Junior Ambassador Day, Job Swap and Peanuts to the Public.

“Our Pike County Farm-City Committee is active almost year around,” Davis said. “Our goal is to make our community more aware of the relationship that exists between our rural and urban communities and the importance of that relationship for all of us because Farming feeds Alabama and Farming Feeds America.”

Davis said today each American farm produces food and fiber for 165 people annually in the United States and abroad. Of those 165 people, 106 are in the United States. The global population is expected to increase by 2.3 billion by 2050. That means the world’s farmers will have to grow about 70 percent more food than what is now produced.

So, tomorrow, thank a farmer.