Banners celebrating National Agriculture Week have been hung along streets in Garnett and Ottawa to bring awareness to the impact of the local agricultural industry in each community. More than a dozen banners in Garnett are hung downtown to be viewed as you travel around the square. In Ottawa, the banners are hung on Main Street south of 17th Street and can be viewed traveling both north to south and south to north.
Numbers released by the Kansas Department of Agriculture confirm that agriculture continues to be a major contributor to the economies of Anderson and Franklin counties. Agriculture and agriculture-related sectors directly contributed $210 million in output and 740 jobs to the Anderson County economy in 2024. Including indirect and induced effects, agriculture and agriculture-related sectors had a total impact of $261 million in output, 1,003 jobs and 28% of the total gross regional product. Anderson county has 611 farms accounting for 364, 522 acres and these number don’t include ethanol production.
Anderson County producer, Connie Thompson, says they live in an area of the county where they could easily support three other counties, but, they choose to support Anderson County AG businesses because they support the little things, like local 4-H kids at the county fair and donating to local festivals outside the city of Garnett, and those little things don’t go unnoticed.
