LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Do you know where your food comes from? It may be closer than you think.
Farmers, producers and experts helped educate the Lima Rotary on Allen County’s biggest industry: agriculture. Topics ranged from the grain market and the impact of tariffs to land and equipment prices.
Agriculture is a multibillion-dollar industry in Ohio that employs one out of eight people, and Allen County’s contributions to those numbers are significant.
Farmers, producers and experts helped educate the Lima Rotary on Allen County’s biggest industry: agriculture.
“Right now, in Allen County, we're looking at about $240 million worth of sales of ag products, with about 24 million of that coming from the cattle sales alone. And if you take the economic impact, how the economy is figuring, you take a 2.5 so you're looking at probably about a $600 million industry in Allen County alone through ag products,” says Mark Goecke, president of the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association.
Even with those large contributions, many people don’t realize that the food on their table comes from farmers just down the road.
“Most people go to the grocery stores, and this happens all across the country. They go to the grocery stores, they get their food, and they go home. The fact that it is readily available to them, you know, they don't sit down and think, ‘Man, where did this come from? And how hard was it to produce?’ You know, it's one thing that we kind of take pride in in the agriculture community, is that they don't have to wonder where their food comes from,” adds Goecke.
Just some interesting facts about the Ohio agriculture industry: The state ranks No. 1 in the nation for Swiss cheese production and second in the nation for egg production.
Farmers, producers and experts helped educate the Lima Rotary on Allen County’s biggest industry: agriculture.
