Celebrating farmers on National Farmers Day

Messages of gratitude are being posted on social media

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Farmers are in the spotlight during National Farmer’s Day celebrations.

Oct. 12 is recognized as National Farmer’s Day, according to the National Day Calendar.

October is chosen as the time to celebrate farmers as they complete harvest.

Many are reminded today, and every day, about the importance of farmers and lessons they can teach.

“From very early American culture, a farmer’s endless hard work has been an example to all of us and today we thank them for their contributions to our economy,” The University of Arizona said in a release today.

There were about 3 million farmers cultivating 2.06 million farms, spread out over 911 million acres in 2016, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

U.S. farmers are also drivers of the economy and employment.

American agriculture contributed $992 billion to the country’s GDP in 2015, accounting for almost 6 percent of the total GDP, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS).

And about 21 million jobs, or 11 percent of total U.S. employment, could be traced back to agriculture in 2015, according to the ERS.

Many have also taken to social media to post photos and messages of appreciation for farmers.

Use the hashtags #NationalFarmersDay or #ThankAFarmer to follow National Farmer’s Day activity online.