Ag Lit Bit"Let the Celebration Begin"
It’s a big year and we hope you’ll be a part of the celebration! You’re going to be hearing a lot about 100 in 2020 as that is the theme of the year for the Cook County Farm Bureau as we reach our 100th anniversary.
The Farm Bureau was established in March of 1920, the same year my grandparents were celebrating the arrival of their first, (and only, son) who was born that January in Independence, Louisiana. It’s crazy to think my father would be celebrating his 100th birthday this month and would have been a bit older than our Farm Bureau. Ironically, his family had a small farm and existed on what they raised, selling the excess (like strawberries) to buy other necessities.
During that time, one farmer fed about 10 people (enough for their family), whereas today one U.S. farmer feeds about 166 people. That number has changed due to many factors, including technology. What has evolved over the past 100 years will likely change much faster during the next 100 years.
Just last month alone, we saw researchers writing about future “Dropcopters” (using drones to pollinate crops), Artificial Intelligence to track cows (using bovine facial recognition and hide patterns), use of solar panels on farm fields including growing crops under the panels (cranberries for example), and use of technology to create a solution to extend the shelf life of produce (imagine bananas or avocados lasting far longer).
It’s never been a more interesting (or challenging) time for our industry, although they probably thought that a century ago. Growing A Nation (https://growinganation.org/) is a wonderful resource that provides a timeline into the history of agriculture to see how we got to where we are today. Prohibition led the headlines back in January of 1920 and 100 years later cannabis is the hot topic.
Not sure what’s next but we here at CCFB hope you will enjoy celebrating our birthday with us on March 28, 2020.