It’s Macon County Fair week!
This is the week we recognize our county’s agriculture heritage. A time for new generations to learn about where our food comes from and the care and dedication that goes into tending farms and animals.
When a group of citizens started talking about hosting a county fair in 1953, they were told a fair could not be successful without a midway – that the carnival rides would draw people to the event. Not to be swayed, the organizers moved forward with a fair focused on our farm families and community organizations. It remains that way today. We now have one of the oldest traditional agricultural fairs in the state.
Naturally in the past 68 years the fair has changed, and part of that change reflects the county’s move from being an agriculture-based economy to one based largely on tourism. But even part of our tourist economy can trace its connection to an appreciation of our natural resources and the land where we live.
According to a report in the Sept. 3, 1953, edition of The Franklin Press, the county had 134,025 acres of farmland at that time, and 9,790 of the population (16,000) lived on farms. Most of the farm acreage was used for hay (45%) and corn (37%), but the county was seeing an increase in beef and dairy farms.
Jump forward to 2017, and the county had 19,775 acres of farm, which was down 13% from the previous agriculture census in 2012. The average size of farms was 58 acres, a decline of 17% since 2012. On the plus side, the total number of farms was up 4% and stood at 340 and the 189 animal farms was an increase of 10% over 2012. There were 184 new and beginning farmers. Other increases came in the areas of fruit, nut and berry farms (22); vegetable, melon and potato farms (27), and crop farms including nurseries and greenhouses (153).
The next agriculture census will be taken in 2022 and will likely show even more changes. Fortunately, the Macon County Comprehensive Plan provides for a Voluntary Agriculture District program to encourage the voluntary preservation and protection of farmland from non-farm development. According to the 2019 version of the plan, 60 parcels of land were included in the program.
Go to the fair this week, enjoy the displays and animal shows, and if you see a farmer stop and say, “thank you.” These men and women work hard every day to put food our tables and help preserve our land and heritage.