Our traditional Christmas celebrations wouldn’t be possible without production agriculture.

You’ll find agriculture’s finger prints on the wonderful food we enjoy as well as many of the gifts we give and receive.

“ Well, as we continue to enjoy the holiday season I think an important message to remember from those of us who are in agriculture is the role that food and fiber production plays in this country, and during the Christmas season it’s easy to look at the Christmas Trees, many of them come from ag production Christmas farms, to the turkeys that are raised, or the candied yams we enjoy eating.”

Doug Steele is the director of the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension.

“You know one of the concerns I have in agriculture and in production agriculture is that people no longer have the firsthand knowledge of where that bountiful table spread comes from, and they enjoy the harvest and production of a lot of people in our country that provide for the many that maybe assume it comes off the grocery shelf or maybe assume that it’s already prepackaged when it gets to them, and there’s not a true understanding of the toils of the farmer and rancher that brings a product to table.”

Steele says that the Christmas holidays hold a very special place in the hearts of agricultural producers.

“In the same sense that the Christmas spirit and the holiday spirit brings people together and families together, I think it provides an opportunity for the ag community to come together to reflect on the past year of successes and failures, of the fears and the joys, the tears and the laughter, and gives us a chance to come together as a community of people who invested our lives in feeding and clothing this country to remember some of the good things that take place during this time of year.”

I’m Kailey Carey, tracing the journey our food and fiber makes from the farm and ranch to our homes, From The Ground Up.