Did you know that agriculture, food processing and related businesses employ nearly 1.5 million people in Illinois and are the state’s largest economic engine? Or that Kane County’s food and agriculture sector contributes nearly $200 million in raw agricultural products to our state’s economy each year?

Me neither. But I’m pretty sure Kane County Board member Thomas (T.R.) Smith does.

Smith is the District 9 County Board representative who is a U.S. Army veteran, a Hampshire American Legion Post #680 commander and plain-spoken taxpayer advocate.  He is also chairman of the County Board’s Agriculture Committee, which he called “the most important committee in the county” at Wednesday’s Executive Committee meeting, where he presented a resolution declaring September 2014 Farmer Appreciation Month in Kane County.

The resolution will move to the full Kane County Board for approval on Sept. 9.

During the month, all Kane County citizens are encouraged to join in recognizing the importance of the agricultural industry.

Here’s the resolution:

DECLARING SEPTEMBER 2014 FARMER APPRECIATION MONTH

WHEREAS, Kane County farmers provide consumers with food and fiber, crops for biofuels production and other sources of renewable energy, and all types of agricultural products which are essential to life; and

WHEREAS, agriculture, food processing, and related businesses employ nearly 1.5 million people in Illinois and are the state’s largest economic engine. Kane County’s food and agriculture sector contributes nearly $200 million in raw agricultural products to our state’s economy each year; and

WHEREAS, Kane County’s integrated network of family farmers, processors, wholesalers, and retailers work to ensure a safe and nutritious food supply enjoyed by millions in our county, the Chicago metropolitan area, and throughout the state; and

WHEREAS, Kane County consumers and retailers have expressed an increased interest in purchasing locally grown and processed food and agriculture products; and

WHEREAS, Kane County’s climate, soil and proximity to the Chicago metropolitan area make it ideally suited to provide consumers with a variety of wholesome and healthy products, including but not limited to beef, dairy, field crops, fruits, horticulture products, pork, poultry, sheep and vegetables; and

WHEREAS, the County of Kane has initiated historic firsts in public policy to: protect farms by ordinance from nuisance lawsuits (1991); develop a storm water ordinance to protect farmland (2000); establish a Farmland Protection Program (2001); assist farmers in maintaining productive soils with a farmland drainage assistance program (2003); and pass the Growing for Kane ordinance, promoting locally grown foods for achieving health and economic benefits (2013); and

WHEREAS, Increased productivity and efficiency allows each American farmer to feed more than 144 people, a dramatic increase from 25 people in the 1960s; and WHEREAS, Kane County farmers and agribusinesses make other positive contributions to the quality of life of residents through Harvest for ALL and other community service and hunger relief programs;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Kane County Board that it hereby establishes the month of September as Farmer Appreciation Month in Kane County and encourages all Kane County residents to partake in the abundance of Kane County agricultural products and support the efforts of local farmers to provide food and farm products to our communities.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Kane County citizens are encouraged to join us in recognizing the importance of our agricultural industry, and invite local policy makers to work in cooperation with local farmers, through events such as the Kane County Farm Bureau’s annual Harvest Leadership Picnic, to encourage, promote and support local policies that increase the consumption of local agricultural products and minimize the loss of productive farmland, and to seek, through development of the Fit for Kids initiative and the 2040 Land Use Plan, to establish a business climate that makes Kane County the preferred location for agricultural businesses that meet the food, fiber and renewable fuel needs of Kane County and the Chicago metropolitan area.