National Agriculture Day, March 20, 2008 Marks the Kickoff of the Great Utah Agriculture Survey

Utah county elementary school to kick off event

Agriculture Day 2008, the first day of Spring, marks the beginning of the Great Utah Agriculture Survey. It’s a chance to speak up about Utah agriculture and have your comments posted on the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food Web site.

We’re looking for your story about agriculture. What farming and ranching mean to you. Tell us how you think agriculture contributes to the State of Utah. Send your message today to agriculture@utah.gov

If you live on a farm or ranch, tell us what you grow or raise, and what you think about feeding the rest of the state. If you live in the city, tell us what you appreciate about Utah’s farmers and ranchers. We’d even like to hear what you think needs fixing with agriculture.

To kick off the survey we’re going to visit Salem Elementary School in Salem, Utah. It is one of the hundreds of elementary school classes that learn about Agriculture through the Ag. in the Classroom program. Mrs. Dorie Thatcher’s second grade students will be writing emails to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Food, Leonard Blackham. Many other Utah K-12 grade classes are being invited to write messages as well.

A total of 2,500 teachers in Utah are being encouraged to offer the survey to a total of about 100,000 students throughout National Agriculture Week and beyond.

The students’ comments will be posted on the UDAF’s Web site. The public is encouraged to send their agriculture message to agriculture@utah.gov. Most comments will be posted to ag.utah.gov.

Lean more about Agriculture day at: http://www.agday.org/

Posted March 20, 2008