• All in one day's work a farmer or rancher can use science, math, technology, and engineering to produce food we eat.³
• The USDA reported in 2013 that there were almost 17 million farm and agriculture-related jobs found in the United States. This includes both part-time and full-time employment.¹
• Jobs found in forestry, fishing, food and beverage manufacturing, textile mill operations, leather products, and restaurant services are just a few industries related to agriculture.³

Before we had grocery stores people lived on farms and grew or hunted all of their food.  Imagine that! Farming is important because it creates food and everyday products that humans and animals need in order to live. Farm fresh eggs and fresh grown vegetables are delicious and nutritious! Soft cotton sheets, bath soap, and the clothes we wear also come from agricultural products. Farming in the United States provides many of these items that we sometimes take for granted. These items grew from seeds and plants or came from animals before they were placed on a shelf for consumers to purchase. Many hands help in the process of getting items from farms to consumers. Workers such as truck drivers, veterinarians, chefs, and biologists play an important role in bringing these commodities to the marketplace for consumers to purchase.² 

Careers involving agriculture extend far beyond that of the farmer. A rancher raises livestock until they are ready to be sold. A truck driver is hired to transport the livestock to market. The buyer purchases the livestock at market. The buyer pays the rancher for the livestock (goods), and the rancher pays the truck driver for his services. The meat packer may purchase the livestock from the rancher directly or from a feed-yard. The meat is distributed to grocery stores. The butcher at the grocery store makes smaller cuts of the meat and wraps it to be sold in the store. The meat is sold by the grocer to us, the consumers, and we use it to cook a meal in our homes. 

Likewise, a farmer may grow a product such as potatoes and pay truck drivers to transport their produce to a factory. The factory purchases the potatoes from the farmer and uses them to make an item, such as french fries. The fries are packaged and distributed to a chain of restaurants. The cook at the restaurant prepares the french fries, and a waitress serves them to the consumer, who pays the restaurant for the goods and the service. There are many people involved in getting food products from the farmer or rancher to the consumer.