Happy Mother's Day

Here's to all the mothers in the world and especially mine (love ya Mom).

And to all those farm mothers, who not only take care of the kids but put in all those farm chores day in and day out and often also hold down another full-time job, I say -- Sit down for at least a while today and enjoy yourself.

Now some agriculture facts to remember on Mother's Day:

1) Anyone who sent flowers to mom today took part in one of the largest parts of agriculture. Floriculture is the fourth largest crop group in the U.S.

2) The economic value of New York state's floriculture products ranks eighth nationwide.


3) Leading floriculture states in value are California, Florida, Michigan, Texas and New York.

4) During 2011, there were 615 growers of floriculture products in New York state. Floriculture includes cut flowers, cut cultivated greens, potted flowering and foliage plants, as well as bedding and garden plants.

5) The value of floriculture in New York state in 2011 (for operations making more than $10,000) was $171 million

6) Floriculture is one of the few agricultural industries to collect sales tax dollars for New York state.

Anyone wanting to learn something about the floriculture business in New York state, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNeLYzhuLPk&feature=em-share_video_user this link to check out a video.

And, of course, let's not forget that candy some of you may have given mom today. If it is dripping in milk chocolate, you've got dairy farmers to thank for that.