Celebrate National Agriculture Day – Wednesday, March 18 – by expressing thanks to area farmers, suggests the Chester Delaware County Farm Bureau.
In 2013, Americans averaged 5.6 percent of disposable personal income on food at home and 4.3 percent on food away from home, one of the lowest percentages in the world, according to a Farm Bureau news release.
“America’s farmers, ranchers and growers are some of our nation’s greatest asset,” said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in the release. “Not only do we rely on agriculture for our food, feed, fiber, and fuel, our agricultural producers preserve our environment, and help drive our national economy. “
U.S. farms, which are still 96 percent family-owned, vary from small part-time farmers raising livestock, growing vegetables and other crops, or producing honey to large-scale operators with thousands of acres.
Local farms, blessed with some of the best soils in the country and well-distributed rainfall, contribute to the success of the state’s industry. For example, 280 dairy farmers produce enough milk for all Delaware and Chester County residents and over 140,000 people in surrounding counties, the release said.
Citing examples of area agricultural prominence, the Farm Bureau highlighted properties that include Lanefield Farm, an equestrian compound in Unionville, and Pietro Industries Inc., a mushroom operation in Kennett Square.
“Farming and horses go hand in hand,” said Mary Hazzard of Lanefield Farm in the release. “I own an 80- acre farm and previously raised polled Hereford cattle and horses, worked a full-time job, and started a horseshoeing business. I breed thoroughbred horses. The babies are raised, trained and compete in various disciplines. The crops of hay, corn, wheat are used on the farm for the horses and some are sold to help pay the taxes in a good year.”
Hazzard explained that horses require open space, and small farms have been able to survive through the agricultural preservation programs in Chester County.
“The attraction of this open space to horse owners is unequalled anywhere on the East Coast,” Hazzard said. “It began because of the interaction between horses for sport, cattle-raising and the mushroom industry, which uses vast amounts of mulch hay and manure, by-products of the horse industry.”
Chris Alonzo of Pietro Industries Inc. said his farm is one of 65 in Chester and Delaware Counties, which produce about half the mushrooms in the country. “Knowing my family farm provides a healthy food to have at your table gives me pride in the work we do seven days a week,” he said.
Alonzo said the farm’s name, which means Peter in Italian, comes from his father and his late grandfather. “Business is not done the same way as when my grandfather started the farm over 75 years ago,” he said. “There is innovation in the process as well as new technology to improve the productivity, quality and food safety of the mushroom.”
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