On Thursday, farmers were celebrated during the Buttonhole Breakfast at the Central Alabama Farmers Coop.

The annual event is part of Farm-City Week, a special time set aside to recognize how dependent agriculture and urban areas are on each other.

It’s probably no surprise to anyone, but agriculture, forestry and related industries accounted for a $2 billion — that’s with a B — local economic impact last year and created more than 12,000 jobs in Dallas County alone.

Farmers are dedicated to producing quality food, fiber and forest products for everyone to enjoy.

Moving those products from farms to homes requires cooperation with people from varying walks of life.

Grocers, truck drivers, factory workers, computer scientists, bankers, veterinarians, chemists, salesmen and numerous others all play important roles in getting food from fields to kitchen tables.

Across the globe, agriculture is the predominant occupation of two-third of all the working population for their livelihood.

That said, it would be almost impossible for other industries and service-based businesses to operate without agriculture.

It definitely would be impossible for us consumers to go about life with agriculture. We depend on farmers for daily substance.

So, as Farm-City Week comes to an end, we thank all our farmers who serve Dallas County and Alabama.

One local farm earned extra praise during Thursday’s breakfast.

The Westbrook family was presented a certificate designating The Home Place as an Alabama Century and Heritage Farm. The program began in 1976 and has recognized more than 580 farms across the state but only 11 in Dallas County.

Reuben Sanders and Sara Elizabeth Tubb bought the original farm in 1902. Their great-granddaughters Audra Westbrook and Glenda Adams Brock own and operate the farm still today with Audra’s son John. They raise cattle now, but in the past also grew corn and cotton and raised sheep and turkeys. The original family home, which was built in 1911, remains on the farm. There is also a milk house still standing from the 1940s and a dairy barn from the 50s.

Congrats to the Westbrook family on the honor.