The Zipline: Celebrating 250 years of American agriculture

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend time on a century farm in Hagerstown, Maryland. As I stood with the family and heard stories of the generations who had worked that land before them, I couldn’t help but think about how many farms across America have stories just like theirs.

As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday this Fourth of July, those stories are worth remembering. Independence Day is a time to celebrate the freedoms and opportunities that define our nation. It’s also a chance to reflect on the people whose work helps make those opportunities possible.

Legacy

Long before highways, airports and technology connected the country, agriculture helped lay the foundation for communities to grow and thrive. Since then, generations of farmers and ranchers have helped feed our country and strengthen local economies.

Many farms are still family owned today. In fact, 97% of farms in this country are family farms. Some have been in the same family for generations. Others are just beginning to build a legacy of their own.

Each farm has a unique story, but what we share is a commitment to hard work, stewardship and service that has helped shape our country.

One of the goals of FARM 250 is to help share those unique stories. Our FARM 250 webpage — fb.org/initiative/farm250 — features farm stories from across the country, including the Maryland farm I visited.

If you have a story to tell, I encourage you to participate in our FARM 250 Photo Contest and help showcase the people, places and traditions that make agriculture such an important part of our country.

Future

While FARM 250 celebrates our history, it is also a reminder that agriculture’s story is still being written. Every generation of farmers faces new opportunities and new obstacles.

The tools, crops and markets may change, but the commitment to caring for our land, our animals and our families remains the same. That commitment has driven remarkable innovation.

Today, farmers produce more food while using fewer resources, thanks to advancements in agriculture. In fact, it would have taken 115 million more acres 30 years ago to produce the same amount of food we do today.

Farmers and ranchers will continue adapting, innovating and finding new ways to provide the food, fuel and fiber Americans depend on every day.

We will continue caring for the land so it can support future generations. And we will continue strengthening the rural communities we call home.

That spirit has carried American agriculture through the past 250 years, and it will carry us forward through the next 250 years, as well.

This Fourth of July, and year-round, Farm Bureau is proud to celebrate the farm families who helped build this country and those who continue to move it forward. Our farm stories are woven into the fabric of our nation.

And thanks to the resilience, innovation and commitment to serving others that mark farmers and ranchers from sea to shining sea, agriculture will continue to stock dinner tables and support communities across America for generations to come.