Dec 15, 2025
By Rick McNary
As you gather for Thanksgiving this year, please pause to recognize the farmers and ranchers who grow the food you eat. Agriculture is the state’s largest industry as the production of food, fuel and fiber on farms sustains our nation, yet they are only 2 percent of the population.
When you consider all the risks involved in farming, it is a wonder any of them sleep at night. For them to make any money, they make huge cash infusions up front on fuel, seed, labor and fertilizer, then wait for Mother Nature to take her own sweet-cherry-pickin’ time to grow the crop. Along the way, a variety of things from pests to storms can obliterate a crop in a matter of hours or minutes. It takes a lot of courage to be a farmer.
In addition to giving thanks around the table, here are 10 practical ways to express gratitude to the wonderful farm and ranch families who are 2 percent of the population who feed the rest of us.
If you personally know one, tell them in person how grateful you are for the work they do to provide the food you eat. Do not be surprised if they shrug their shoulders and act like it is no big deal but remind them that what they do matters. Most I know are a bit bashful and might not know how to respond. After you thank them, you can ask questions about agriculture.
Learn about their operation, what they grow, how long the farm has been in the family and what they like best about their way of life. If you really want to get them going, ask them about their soil and water conservation practices, the types of crops they raise or the kinds of animals on their farm. They can talk all day about those topics.
Write them a letter, send them a nice note or shoot them an email expressing how grateful you are for the food you eat and the role they play in providing you with food. Put them on your annual Christmas card list and send them a card each year. I promise you will be glad you do.
Invite them to speak to your civic or faith-based group so they can share their work and help others get to know them. No matter what your group engages in, there is always a connection between food and farming. They are known for their volunteer service in communities across Kansas.
Ask them to join your nonprofit board. Farmers and ranchers are experts in multiple disciplines and have much to offer in practical wisdom and technical knowledge.
Invite their family over to your house for dinner and have them explain how it works to grow the food you eat.
Take your children and/or grandchildren on a tour of a farm or ranch. My wife, Christine, and I have eight grandchildren and we make them matching t-shirts with the “McNary Cousins Farm and Ranch Tour,” then take them to various farms to learn where their food comes from.
Ask them to teach a class. Many of them are highly educated and have abundant educational resources they can provide to your primary, elementary and secondary schools, often for free. There is a surprising lack of knowledge about where our food comes from. A friend of mine, a middle school teacher, told her class that spaghetti grew in a field and sometimes a spaghetti farmer would cut it down. Half of the class believed her.
Interview them for an article you are writing, a video you are producing or a podcast you are hosting. I have interviewed farmers and ranchers for more than eight years and am always inspired and educated by those interviews.
Purchase food from those who sell their farm grown products directly to consumers. You can find one or more at www.shopkansasfarms.com.
As you gather around the holiday tables this season, say a little prayer and thank a farmer or rancher. Because somewhere, some farmer or rancher got out of bed this morning at 5 a.m. and will work until past sundown to grow the food you eat. If you know a farmer, thank him or her (did you know most farmers in the world are women?) for what they do.
If you do not know a farmer, find one on the Shop Kansas Farms website. These hard-working individuals will appreciate a hat tip this holiday season.