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WWW.SUGARPRODUCER.COM 19 Each year in March, the nation comes together to increase public awareness of agriculture's role in society and to celebrate the dedication of America's farmers and farm families. The Nation- al Ag Day program was initiated by the Agriculture Council of America (ACA) in 1973. This year, we will observe this occasion on March 22. Naturally, you'll find us doing a little bit extra celebrating of the people and plants that bring us real sugar. CELEBRATING REAL SUGAR If you're reading this, you already know that the real sugar in our food supply comes only from sugarbeets and sugarcane. While all green plants make sucrose, or sugar, sugarbeets and sugar- cane produce the greatest quantities of sugar, making them the most efficient crops from which to extract sugar. Many beet and cane farms have been passed down for several generations, making sugar growing an important family legacy. This year, as we celebrate all the farmers who grow beets and cane, and all the working hands in between, we'd like to highlight a few of those special people who play a role in bringing real sugar to consumers' tables. MEET MICHAEL ANN RELKA Michael Ann Relka of Mitchell, Ne- braska, is both an agriculturalist and a farmer. She has worked directly with the growers of Western Sugar for 12 years, helping them produce a quality beet crop and ensuring that product is able to be processed at the factory. While her job changes throughout the year, Relka is currently managing the beet piles at the receiving stations Scottsbluff and Bayard, Nebraska, and working with growers to prepare for the coming seasons. She and her husband, Justin, are also preparing for the coming farm season; they grow sugarbeets in addition to dry edible beans and corn on their western Nebraska farm. Farming and raising sugarbeets hold a lot of sentimental value to Relka. Both her father and grandfather were farmers and raised sugarbeets on some of the same ground Michael Ann and her husband farm today. She is proud to be raising her children within that same family heritage. Relka loves both her day job and farming with her family. Getting to be