Importance+of+agriculture+in+society

=Importance of Agriculture  = ("Agriculture in Pennsylvania")
 * Pennsylvania is the leader in agriculture.
 * The first farmers in PA were originally Native Americans. The Lenape Indians of the Delaware Valley region planted corn. The Monongahela Indians of the upper Ohio Valley region in western Pennsylvania grew corn, beans, and squash. Indians even preserved dried corn and other foods in storage pits.
 * German immigrants brought their own farming techniques and traditions with them when they immigrated to Pennsylvania. In Lancaster and York farmlands, they started farming and created the Pennsylvania style barn, which is now a big part of Pennsylvanian landscape.
 * Pennsylvania Germans also brought different ideas to Pennsylvania when they started rotating their crops. They would sow a different crop (corn, oats, wheat, and clover) on each of their fields over a four year period of time.
 * During the colonial times of Pennsylvania agriculture, **over 50% of Pennsylvanians** lived on farms. Most farm families also served as the laborers for the farm, since there were very few hired workers during colonial times, although apprentices and indentured laborers were very common.
 * Philadelphia's first marketplace, held in 1693, was a shed on the corner of First and Market Street. Chester, Germantown, and New Castle all had their own markets by 1698, and Harrisburg's first farmers' markets were built after the town was built in 1785.
 * In 1765 America's oldest agriculture fair was started by the Penn family let York County farmers exhibit their produce. Thomas Penn signed a charter that granted York the privilege of holding 2 fairs a year, in the spring and fall. Although it was discontinued in 1815, the York Fair was revived in 1853 and has been held annually at the the York Fairgrounds ever since. It is a big part of the culture and society in York, and all of Lancaster.
 * The first American organization dedicated to agriculture reform, the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, was started in 1785 during the Revolutionary War era. They provided advice about problems such as insect control and the latest farming equipment. In 1809 the Pennsylvania Society for Improving the Breed of Cattle was organized, and in 1827 the Pennsylvania Horticultureal Society was founded.
 * In Lancaster County alone there are 5,293 farms with the average farm size being about 78 acres.
 * Lancaster County's Dairy Farms are considered to be 9th nationally in the productivity of the farms.



Agriculture is something that is impossible to live without. The necessity of agriculture affects more than most people would imagine. The economy is directly tied to agriculture and if it were to die out or become increasingly unproductive the economy would drop drastically. Also many people would be without their food and many consumers would have to pay outrageous amounts for any type of food that would have been produced by a farm or in the agricultural areas. Agriculture also plays a dominant role in our foreign policy and without it, the trade with other countries and our imports and exports would be affected in terrible ways. Agriculture also provides many jobs for people in the areas of farming, processing, producing, or even transporting the goods from a farm to the supplier who will sell the goods to the consumer. **Agriculture is a big part of everday life, because everyone depends on the crops, such as corn, wheat, beans, tomatoes, and many others, to survive.**