Proclamation 5449

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

For more than a century, American agriculture has led the world in the development and use of technological advances that raise our standard of living. In fact, the production of food and fiber is our largest and most basic industry.

Our farms, ranches, orchards, vineyards, and nurseries; the businesses that supply them; and those who transform and transport their raw commodities or sell the final products, provide us with the world's most abundant and varied supply of food and clothing. American agriculture also helps feed tens of millions of people in other countries. Moreover, the activities of the 23 million Americans employed in agriculture generate one-fifth of our gross national product and one-fifth of our Nation's jobs.

Maintaining such production-nearly onetwelfth of the world's output of major agriculture commodities-requires careful stewardship of natural resources and capital, flexibility in responding to the vagaries of weather and the vicissitudes of the international marketplace, unparalleled mastery of many skills, and the continuous support of research institutions.

To honor the immense and varied contributions made to our economy and our national life by the men and women working in American agriculture, and to foster a greater understanding of the importance of this sector of our economy, the Congress of the United States, by Public Law 99-207 approved December 23, 1985, has designated March 20, 1986, as "National Agriculture Day" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 20, 1986, as National Agriculture Day, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and tenth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:56 a.m., March 21, 1986]