COVID-19 Can’t Completely Shut Down National Ag Day
COVID-19 is making Ag Day a bit more difficult to celebrate this year, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
National Ag Day is a day dedicated to increasing public awareness about agriculture’s vital role in our society. This should be even more apparent now as agriculture has been identified as a critical infrastructure sector by the Department of Homeland Security during the COVID-19 pandemic.
National Ag Day events held in Washington, D.C. and around the country have been canceled due to the pandemic, but organizers are still hopeful the message gets out. Isabella Chism is a member of the American Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee and immediate past chair of the National Ag Day committee.
“We’re actually pretty excited now that we’ve gotten past the disappointment because we’ve got a lot of extra opportunities for people on AgDay.org. We have a social media posts for them to use, videos, slideshows, static posts as well that will talk about agriculture.”
Chism says they’re encouraging farmers to share their story and talk about what they do each day. Another idea she recommends is to, “Read an ag accurate book online. Do a Facebook Live. Do something on YouTube like that…people are starting to respond. I’ve noticed some picking up.”
Chism believes this COVID-19 situation has led to more appreciation for farmers from the public.
“We continue to do the best that we can to not only feed our families but feed the rest of the nation, and in normal times, the rest of the world. So, what we see now though is a greater appreciation that people are truly appreciating what the farmers are doing. They’re starting to realize more that there is that direct link from the farm to the grocery store to their table.”
Chism also serves as Indiana Farm Bureau 2nd Vice President.
Information about National Ag Day that can be shared online can be found here.
