KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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At Thursday's Kansas City, Missouri, City Council meeting, the council passed a special resolution honoring local agriculture producers ahead of next week's National Agriculture Week.
The resolution was sponsored by Councilman Nathan Willett.
"Kansas City's history is deeply rooted in agriculture. Honestly, that's why we became an economic powerhouse, from the stockyards to the rail system," Willett told KSHB 41 agriculture reporter Ryan Gamboa. "It's important to remember our history, but agriculture is still the number one industry in the state of Missouri and has a great impact into the Kansas City region."
Members from Lawson 4-H in Ray County, Missouri, were invited to be a part of Thursday's celebration.
High School Freshman Brycen Ward, expressed excitement about the recognition and the platform it gives his 4-H group and the industry.
"We kind of just have a week just for us," he said. "I feel like farmers aren't recognized as much."
Ward participates in a multitude of programs offered in 4-H, including showing rabbits and chickens and dabbling in welding.
"We also do a lot of stuff in the community," Ward said. "It's really good to show what 4-H does and its great to show what we do. We do a lot of stuff within our county."
4-H is the nation's largest youth development organization and prides itself on the empowerment of six million young people.
It offers a wide range of programs, from livestock production, Dutch oven cooking, sewing, shooting sports and many other activities.
The goal of the national organization is to go beyond the farm fields and offer kids a multitude of experiences in the community.
In fact, the idea of 4-H began just two hours north of Kansas City.
Jessie Field Shambaugh, coined the "Mother of 4-H Clubs" was a resident of southwest Iowa. The Page County, Iowa Fair still follows many of the original 4-H traditions set in place by Shambaugh.
The one-room schoolhouse she taught in still stands at the local museum.
"4-H is a big agriculture thing, but you can do anything in 4-H," Ward said.
Councilman Willett announced that city hall will be bathed in green and yellow lights next week, not just for St. Patrick's Day, but to pay tribute the the area's farmers and ranchers.
Mayor Quinton Lucas pointed out to the 4-H kids being recognized that the city's agriculture roots can been seen on engravings on the council chamber walls.
"A lot of the work that you are learning now and appreciating now, it's core to how we founded and formed as a city," Lucas said. "It shows just how important it is for you to learn this and become leaders. Not just in agriculture, but so everyone knows how important this sector is to our economy and our culture."
A 2025 University of Missouri Extension report states that Missouri was home to 111,000 farms in 1997 spanning across 30.2 million acres of farm land.
In 2022, that number dropped significantly to 87,887 total farms a 21% decline from 1997.
Farmland also declined over the same period by 11%, reaching 27 million acres by 2022.
Councilman Willett told KSHB 41 his family runs a livestock operation in the Northland.
He explained that he supported legislation that would help cut red tape for farmers in more rural parts of the city and in the urban core.
"It's important that we protect farmers rights in our city. We want to make sure that as we continue to grow, we also respect our farmers and stand up for the industry and recognize they're what made Kansas City great in the first place," he said. "We must protect them going into the future."
National Agriculture Week runs from March 15 to March 21.
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