A reminder goes out to all that Wednesday is the final day to make reservations for the 2010 Farm-City Banquet.

Previously, the Farm-City Banquet always was held in November, but that was changed to coincide with National Ag Week and National Ag Day.

The Farm-City Banquet is co-sponsored by Butler Rotary, Butler County Conservation District, Penn State Cooperative Extension and other agricultural agencies.

This year's banquet will be held March 15 at Butler County Community College's Founder's Hall. Light refreshments will be served at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. The program will include a presentation by the Moraine Area Tractor Cruisers Association.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the Penn State Extension Office at 724-287-4761, the Farm Service Agency at 724-482-4800, Ext. 2, or the Butler Conservation District at 724-284-5270. Reservations are required; no tickets will be sold at the door. Cost per person is $15 in advance, with checks made payable to Extension Special Account. Tickets also may be purchased from any Butler Rotarian.

Farm-city relations continue to be a challenge, even more so in a county like Butler, which is seeing more of a population increase. Farmers need to take every opportunity to inform and educate their nonfarming neighbors. The fact that most of society is at least one and maybe two generations removed from production agriculture will only mean intensifying this effort in the future.

Generally, nonfarmers are supportive of agriculture. This is especially true if they understand what is involved to operate a farm today. Farm-city alliances need to be formed so when community support is needed for various proposals, the entire community understands the positive and negative aspects of each.

In the United States, our food is cheap compared with other countries'. Americans spend only about 11 percent of their disposable income on food. The U.S. has the safest, most-abundant food supply in the world.

With respect to the Farm-City banquet, the highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the Bullshipper Award, which is presented each year to the individual who excels in promoting farm-city relations in and around Butler County.

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Serv-ice Agency.