Annual Essay Contest

This year, Farm Bureau sponsored the annual county wide Middle School Essay Contest. The topic of the 2005 contest was "Why Is Agriculture Important to My Everyday Life?" We are happy to announce the winner of the Farm Bureau Essay Contest is Meredith Burgamy, a 7th grade student at Brentwood. Her winning essay appears below!

Why Is Agriculture Important To My Everyday Life?

Meredith Burgamy

Agriculture is important to my everyday life because it provides food, clothing, and shelter. The word agriculture comes from the Latin words ager, meaning field, and cultura, meaning cultivation. The bacon and cereal we eat for breakfast comes from agricultural products. So do the raw materials for woolen suits, cotton dresses, and leather shoes. Factories also make paints, plastics, and medicines from farm products.

Agriculture is the world's largest and most important industry. The main branches of agriculture include crop-farming, dairying, ranching, poultry raising, fruit-growing, forestry and turf-grass.

Agriculture has influenced the way man lives throughout history. Without agriculture, man could live only by hunting and fishing. When man learned to raise plants and animals, he could settle in one place instead of wandering about in search of food. Nations have fought wars to win good farmland.

At one time, most people were farmers. Even today, about half of the world's people make their home on farms. Less than two percent of the people in the United States are farmers. Scientific farming methods and farm machinery make it possible for comparatively few persons to raise enough food and other agricultural products for everyone.

Many people are employed because of agriculture business or agribusiness. Modern agriculture high yields allow us to purchase our basic needs of food, clothing and shelter anytime we need them.

Throughout the world, about a hundred different main crops provide most of the food for man and his livestock. They also supply the materials men use to make cloth and other useful products. The chief kinds of crops are cereals, fibers, forage, sugar, oils, fruits, nuts, potatoes, other vegetables, tobacco, rubber, coffee, tea, cocoa and timber.

Agriculture will always be important because everyday life is dependent on agriculture.

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