Small Town News

Enjoying the view? Thank a Delaware farmer

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Cropland is more extensive than many realize

The Delaware Department of Agriculture, with input from the farming and poultry community, has launched a campaign to make the public more aware that farms provide much more than food, i.e., they contribute to Delaware's overall quality of life.

Through two strategically located billboards along Delaware's resort corridors, people are reminded that open space and bucolic vistas are directly related to farms and the farmers that own and operate them.

One is located on Route 13 in Bridgeville; and the other is located on Route 113 in Milford. The billboards say, "Enjoying the view? Thank a Delaware farmer."

The scenic views like the one depicted in the billboard picture are provided by Delaware's more than 2, 500 farms.

More than half of these are family farms that provide a continuity of the state' rich agricultural and rural heritage that dates back to Colonial times, like the 325-year-old Miller Farm in Frederica.

Delaware Agriculture Secretary Ed Kee said, "The beautiful views and open space provided by our rural landscapes are important to us and to our wildlife, but we must also remember that a strong, viable economy is vital to our quality of life as well. Farms and farmers are the linchpins of our food and farm system that contributes more than a billion dollars to Delaware's economy."

"They provide the basic raw materials that are the fuel for an agriculture industry that provides more than 18, 000 jobs to Delawareans on farms, in processing plants, in markets, in transportation and much more."

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2007, Delaware farms alone hired 3, 223 workers and paid more than $36 million in wages.





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