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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RECOGNIZING MARCH 18, 2025, AS NATIONAL AGRICULTURE DAY
WHEREAS, Illinois is home to more than 72,000 farms, 94 percent of which are family-owned; and
WHEREAS, Agriculture includes the growing, raising, and harvesting of crops as well as the raising of livestock for both human and animal consumption; and
WHEREAS, Cook County agriculture and related industries support over 110,000 jobs and generate over $15.4 billion in value-added; and
WHEREAS, Cook County is home to nearly 11,000 acres of farmland according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture; and
WHEREAS, Cook County agriculture landscape includes vegetable, floriculture, honey production, grain, nursery, and row crop production; and
WHEREAS, Cook County's agricultural livestock includes horses, ponies, mules, burros, and donkeys; and
WHEREAS, Cook County is ranked first in the state for equine production with a sales volume of over $2.2 million; and
WHEREAS, Cook County also leads the state in honey sales; and
WHEREAS, Cook County ranks twelfth in the state for nursery, greenhouse, floriculture, and sod production; and
WHEREAS, Cook County is home to numerous examples of urban agriculture including the raising, cultivation, processing, marketing, and distribution of food in urban and suburban settings; and
WHEREAS, Urban agriculture generally involves outdoor and indoor vertical production, indoor warehouse farms, greenhouses, rooftop farms, hydroponic and aquaponic facilities; and
WHEREAS, 97 Cook County farms are certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture; and
WHEREAS, many Cook County farmers sell directly to consumers at farmstands, roadside markets, farmers markets, and through community support agriculture; and
WHEREAS, Cook and Illinois farmers grow healthy and nutritious food; and
WHEREAS, Farmland is a finite resource that is vital to agriculture, food production, and the economic well-being of...
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