EXTENSION REPORT

Celebrate Farm City Week

            Today in our country, we are blessed to have an affordable and abundant food supply. Too often we take the food we eat everyday for granted.  Each year, we celebrate a Farm-City Week to take time to recognize the importance of a connection between rural and urban people.  The week of November 18th is Farm City Week.  During this time would be a great opportunity to talk at the dinner table with family members about what all is involved so our families have food to eat. 

            Our food supply is inexpensive and plentiful. The hard work of farmers across the nation and stunning scientific and technological advances have made food in the United States more affordable than anywhere else in the world. Thanks to products that farmers produce, like timber for building our homes, fiber for clothing and fabrics, and, of course, fruits, vegetables and meats. We are able to face each day with a variety of choices, such as what to wear or what we want for dinner.

            The goods farmers produce are astounding, but let’s face it, without the constant innovation and technological knowledge from city people, farmers would not be able to produce at the rate they do now. We are dependent on each other. City people need farmers to provide them with products for everyday life, and farmers rely on those in the city for the goods and technology that allow them to produce food and fiber so efficiently.

            America’s cities are well-known centers of education, manufacturing, and the latest scientific advancements. The modern lifestyle we all enjoy comes from both the fields of rural America and the factories, businesses, and offices of urban cities.

            Towns and cities are important, not only as production centers, but also as gathering places for people from all walks of life. If farmers are the backbone of the United States, the cities of our nation make it the modern and economically productive place it is today.  It is only as people from both rural and urban backgrounds work together that America begins to reach it full potential.  

Credit to the following:  Baldwin County Farmers Federation.

\What do you know about Baldwin County Agriculture?

Take a few minutes and take our quick quiz to see what you know about agriculture in our county.  Thank you our Regional Extension Agents in Agriculture for providing these questions.

1.   True or False, Baldwin County produces 3 million of the state's 9 million pound average of pecans. 

2.  How does Baldwin County rank in nursery and sod production in Alabama?

A. 2nd

B. 4th

C. 15th

D. 67th

3.  Which plant is native to Baldwin County?

a. Cogongrass

b. Japanese Cleyera

c. Wax Myrtle

d. Bamboo        

4.  When planting container grown plants, dig the hole

a. 36 inches wide

b. 6 inches deep

c. 12 to 18 inches wide

d. the same depth it was growing in the container or shallower

5.   Which of the following trees has the highest wind tolerance?

a.    Red Maple

b.   Bradford Pear

c.    Bald Cypress

6.  True or False, Baldwin County is the 7th ranked agricultural county in Alabama.

7.  Approximately, how many acres of peanuts were planted in Baldwin County in 2007?

a.  2,000

b. 10,000

c. 12,000

d.  22,000

Check your Answers:

1.  True

2.  A

3.  C

4.  D

5.  C

6.  True

7.  D

This article was written by Susan Wingard, County Extension Coordinator

Email address:swingard@aces.edu
Phone: 937-7176 or 943-5611, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.