The news has not been good out of some parts of Kansas, Colorado and Oklahoma, as 750,000 acres of land were torched by wildfires. The loss of life and livestock was devastating to anyone who reads the coverage of our related publications, and online stories from news outlets.

Piling on were massive rains that seem to have put a dent in the longtime drought in California. While that drought in California may be relieved, I'm pretty sure it's not over. For now, however, at least those farmers will have the irrigation water they need, and can start to plan for this cropping season.

As for farmers and ranchers in that torched countryside, the growing list of groups and corporations lending financial aid, hay loads and other help keeps growing. It's a solid sign of something people outside of agriculture don't get. We may squabble, we may argue over policy, but when bad times happen we link arms and work together to move on.

Agriculture summed up
Meredith Willson, writer of "The Music Man," shared the sentiment eloquently in the song called "Iowa Stubborn," where townspeople in River City note that they may seem aloof but then there's this lyric, "But we'll give you our shirt, and the back to go with it, if your crops should happen to die."

In one phrase, Willson summed up a key part of agriculture. We have each other's backs, and we can see that right now as external forces turned south in a big way. Well, they sure turned south.

As I write this we've just celebrated National Ag Day, a time to get together and celebrate the industry and its role in this country. President Donald Trump was the first president in 16 years to make the National Ag Day Proclamation, which Ray Starling, his special adviser on agriculture, agriculture trade and food assistance, says shows where ag sits as a priority for this administration.

Celebrating agriculture once a year seems a little "light" to me, and the American AgriWomen came up with an idea that I think could do with some support. They're supporting the notion of AgDay365, as a way to celebrate ag and tell its story every day of the week. You do that in a lot of different ways, from raising food to conducting farm tours to reaching out to policymakers. It's a hard job, but one that farmers and ranchers accept as part of the territory.

As this new crop season gets off in full swing, do a few things. First, be safe because spring can be dangerous around the farm. Second, keep in touch with the neighbors so they're safe. Third, keep telling your story because that's who consumers believe — farmers.