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This past Tuesday many in America celebrated Earth Day, which started in 1970, launched the environmental movement and increased environmental awareness across the fruited plain. Along with the school children who planted flowers to enhance the natural beauty of their school and the groups that cleaned up roadside debris, farmers across our great nation celebrated Earth Day as well.

What did farmers do, you ask?

The same thing they do every other day of the year, interact with Mother Earth and attempt to feed the world.

Farmers, whether they make their primary living from agriculture or participate in the supply side of the food chain on a part-time basis, are in tune with nature and the seasons in ways many of us would not imagine. It is this love of interacting with our planet that leads many to bale and haul hay all day long in mid-August, while the majority of us seek respite in our climate controlled offices and homes. It is that same love that finds them feeding that hay to their livestock during a freezing drizzle event in late January, while the rest of us are sitting by a roaring fire and sipping hot cocoa.

Farmers recycle, are concerned about fuel economy and are facing the same increasing costs of doing business like everyone else these days. Just because the price of a gallon of milk has increased or the "value meal" at the drive-through has received yet another price adjustment lately, does not mean that the average farmer's wallet is becoming thicker. Last week nearly 100 local livestock and forage producers attended the "Surviving the High Cost of Fertilizer and Fuel" seminar at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton to hear the news that in today's era of escalating fertilizer prices, following traditional production practices and fertilizer rates would likely be a losing proposition for them this summer.

Crop farmers practice cropping strategies using no-till drilling and mulches to conserve soil moisture and decrease erosion on their land. They set aside marginal crop land into federal programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program that saves topsoil and the Wetlands Reserve Program that helps preserve and re-develop wetlands that are crucial for helping to clean our surface water. As an added benefit, both of these programs provide excellent wildlife habitat.

Livestock farmers are using stream side management zones and fencing to keep livestock out of critical aquatic areas, enhancing water quality at the same time. Cross-fencing and prescribed grazing of livestock facilitate the even distribution of post-digestion deposits back on pastureland, recycling the nutrients and organic matter onto the soil, improving pasture quality and reducing soil erosion and the prevalence of noxious weeds. Incorporation of properly inoculated clovers and other legumes into pasture systems are also saving farmers some of the annual costs associated with nitrogen fertilizer applications.

Many farmers use the concept of integrated pest management (IPM) in their animal and crop farming operations. IPM approaches to pest management reduce the use of pesticides by first properly identifying a "pest" observed on a farm, determining if the pest is indeed present in high enough numbers to cause an economic loss to the operation and then seeking advice for the most environmentally friendly and economical solution to the problem. Pest control options used in IPM programs can be chemical, mechanical or biological in nature.

Farmers are also involved in research programs such as Earth Kind, a program designed to encourage the adoption among homeowners environmentally friendly gardening and landscaping practices that are based upon research-proven practices. Earth Kind combines traditional and organic gardening practices in a blend that is based on, according to the Earth Kind Web site, "real-world effectiveness and environmental responsibility."

Regardless of whether their product is traditionally, naturally or organically grown, the farmers who live among you are concerned about the environment we all share and are dependent upon that same environment for their very livelihood. Go outside and welcome spring and welcome the American farmer and the bounty from the Earth he provides us all.

Brian Triplett is the Smith County Extension agent for agriculture and natural resources. He can be reached at (903) 590 - 2980 or via e-mail at b-triplett@tamu.edu or on the web at http://tceblogs.tamu.edu/mt/smith or http://smith-tx.tamu.edu.