Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
America's Heartland is made possible by...
Farm Credit - Financing agriculture and rural America since 1916.
Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers and ranchers.
Learn more at farmcredit.com
CropLife America - Representing the companies whose
modern farming innovations help America's farmers provide
nutritious food for communities around the globe.
Hi I'm Jason Shoultz.
Is there cereal on your breakfast table?
Do you like Pizza?
How about rice cakes if you're looking to lose a few pounds?
Coming up, we go for the grain!
We'll take you to Nebraska.
It may be known as the cornhusker state but
one farm family finds its future in wheat.
We'll step into the corn field with an Indiana family
where two sons convinced their dad to come back to the farm.
We'll take you to Morocco where U.S. grain plays a
significant role in feeding both people and animals.
And this Idaho family brings in a grain crop
that goes into the beer you drink.
It's all coming up on America's Heartland.
♪You can see it in the eyes Of every woman and man♪
♪In America's Heartland living close to the land♪
♪There's a love for the country And a pride in the brand♪
♪In America's Heartland♪
♪Living close Close to the land♪
♪♪
No matter what your taste in foods, it's a good bet that
grains make up a significant portion of your diet.
America's corn, wheat, rice, and barley farmers harvest
more than 130 million acres of grains each year and more
and more of that is heading to your dinner table.
Bread products take up lots of shelf space
at any supermarket and that's just one of hundreds of products
using grains from U.S. farms.
American farmers export more than 115 billion dollars
in farm products each year and grains
make up a major portion of that total.
Farmers will raise some 20 billion pounds of rice alone
in states like Arkansas and California.
About half of that crop goes to foreign markets.
But, while the U.S. produces less than 2 percent of the
world's rice, it ranks among the top five rice exporting nations.
So let's introduce you
to some farmers meeting those production demands.
Good weather and technology are important in
guaranteeing a crop for consumers, but our Rob Stewart
says family also plays a major role on one Indiana farm.
♪♪
It's a quiet early August morning in Greenwood,
Indiana and the sun is just breaking through the thick
stalks of green in this central Indiana cornfield.
Welcome to Indy Family Farms just outside of indianapolis.
It's the setting for the story of a man
who's returning to his roots.
That's not unusual on a farm when the next generation
takes over the land.
But in this case it's dad that came home
to help his sons' business grow.
That's a good looking field of corn.
Rob Richards and his sons, Eric and Aaron
are now the three backbones of Indy Family Farms but
it hasn't always been this way.
I always knew I wanted to come back to the farm.
And the boys had done a great job of- of growing the
business and they want it to be their career and I
thought I'd just come back and I could bring my
business expertise back and offload Eric and Aaron
of some of those duties so that they could focus
more on the operation side.
This was tied to the problems we were having...
After decades off the family farm,
Rob is working side by side with his sons.
Rob grew up on this land but left after college for a
quarter century career in the telecom industry.
Having Dad back is one of the best things we have going for us
You know, me and Eric grew this business for 10 years
and always wanted to work with my dad.
We farm 12,000 acres, and about 80 percent is corn.
Eric Richards is the operations manager of Indy Family Farm,
which leases, plants and harvests
thousands of acres owned by other people.
Our farm's different. We, uh, we run it as a business, and,
it's kind of like our gadget we produce is corn,
it's just run as a business with- with numbers, and- and we
we have to make an income to- to keep going.
Alright, so we're going to start over here then we'll
move here probably next.
Mmhmm.
This map shows just how sprawling their business
venture is spanning across 50 miles of Indiana farmland.
You know, our goal is to exceed landowner expectations,
not just meet landowners', and think that, uh, we're taking
an approach that is right for this time and that is, uh,
that the landowners are our customers.
But their business emerged from
very different beginnings 15 years ago.
That's when Eric and Aaron took over the family farm
with their grandfather as their mentor.
You were 19 years old.
I was 19, and my brother was 17, and we- we took over
when my uncle had moved to Illinois.
That's a load to carry.
Yeah, the farm wasn't the same size it is now, of course, but-
but yeah, for getting started that young, it was a big job.
Their hard work has paid off.
Indiana is one of the top five
corn producing states in the nation.
And a quick look at their fields gives a hint of the harvest.
Let's open this up.
How long has this been growing?
We planted this the, uh- the last week of May.
And look it there.
That is just beautiful.
Now, where will this corn go?
Uh, it'll end up for either animal feed or, ethanol.
So all over the world?
Yes.
What does it mean to you to be able to produce a crop that
literally will leave here from Indianapolis and go worldwide?
Oh, this makes me- makes me feel proud, 'cause we know,
I know all the work and money that goes into
producing that corn, that ear of corn, so, to me,
it's a little different, you know,
'cause I know what it takes to do all the work.
♪♪
Hard work has brought
this family together on the land once more.
These little ones are the sixth generation here.
Gathering close to one of the farm's original barns,
the Richards are glad Dad is home - for good.
To get to go up and give him a hug and tell him hello
every day is worth every penny.
And he brings such a great business dynamic to the farm
with being in corporate America for so long he knows
big numbers and big budgets, and it actually allows me
and Eric to come out and farm and do what we do best.
And as for Rob, being back with his boys
is never far from this new farmers heart.
I'd just say how incredibly proud I am of what they've
done and the men they've grown up to be.
♪♪
You may know that Indiana is called the "Hoosier" state,
but do you know what a "Hoosier" is?
The word dates back to the early days of the 19th
century, but despite extensive research there is
no definitive definition on how "Hoosier" came to be.
Let's give you a couple of sure things, however,
when it comes to Indiana history.
The first successful goldfish farm in the
United States was opened in Indiana in 1899.
And if you like popcorn, Indiana is the place to be.
It's one of the most important
popcorn producing states in the nation,
growing hundreds of millions of pounds of popcorn each year.
Now, corn may be the number one farm crop in America,
but wheat is also important to farmers and consumers.
That's because wheat is found in almost every
product on your kitchen shelf.
Breads, pasta, pizza and cereal are obvious,
but you'll also find wheat in sauces, soups, ground spices,
desserts, salad dressings, cheese spreads and even beer.
Akiba Howard travels to Nebraska where growing the
golden grain involves more than just one generation.
Scott Moore knows that it takes much more than just
seed and rain to create the basic ingredient for that
loaf of bread on your dinner table.
Raising wheat is a year round effort.
His farm makes up just a fraction of the one and
three quarter million acres planted in Nebraska.
Working alongside his father, Stan,
Scott counts on everyone's help to get the crop to market.
Hard work's great.
It's been a struggle in certain points and I'd like the kids to
not be able to have to struggle as much as Carla and I have.
But I don't want complacency to set in either.
Then it's easy, it's too easy.
You want to check the flow meter?
Scott, a third generation farmer, is helping his kids,
9-year-old Katie and 12-year-old Zack, learn the farming business
on land where his grandfather started back in the 1920's.
Over the years he and his father have amassed a
seven thousand-acre spread that includes corn, soybeans,
winter wheat, and 350 head of cattle.
[cow mooing]
There is no greater compliment to a farmer than to have his
son choose to come back on the farm and work with him.
We work with each other
ultimately about 365 days a year.
That all we got?
Yeah, but I didn't look very hard.
There may be some over there.
Running a farming operation these days, demands attention to
not only crop markets but energy costs, environmental concerns,
sustainable farming practices and machinery issues.
As Scott works the land...
Hey Riley, got a minute?
His wife Carla works full time 30 miles away
as an agent for a farm insurance company.
And when that work day is done
she's back home with another set of obligations and
challenges for the farm-
Lunch is ready, let's go guys.
and her family.
She get parts picked up in town, runs after us all the time,
helps me irrigate, helps us work cattle,
does about everything possible that she can do.
Couldn't handle it without her.
Carla says helping her husband has become second nature.
We can drive down the Interstate from here to
Lincoln and he can tell me what was planted in every
field along the way for the past two to three years.
And, you know, so just the agriculture stuff that he has,
it's just- it's in his brain it's how he's wired.
That one pretty crunchy?
Mmhmm, yeah.
Okay. So this head is ready to go.
This would be ready to harvest.
To improve his soil and forestall erosion,
Scott has implemented a "no-till" approach,
planting as he plows under the remains of last year's crop.
And if you still look in the ground here,
you can still see this is last year's wheat stubble,
that was standin' up here just as tall as right here,
and then this is the corn stalk from the year before that.
Just layin' all down there...
And what we're building, and if we dig a little farther,
all this is humus and everything that's on the
soil and that turns into fertilizer.
And also if it rains or hard or anything, no erosion.
No soil is going to move.
It's gonna hit that, bounce off, deflect and settle back in.
Recognition from your peers is important in confirming
that your efforts have made a difference.
That recognition came recently as Scott and Carla were picked
as the best of Nebraska's Young Farmers and Ranchers.
A nod to their efforts in the past and to their plans
for their family farm in the future.
To put your operation up against other people in the state,
and for that panel of judges to say,
"Yeah, I think you're the number one this year."
That's- it's a great ego boost, but it's just an
amazing honor to be recognized.
♪♪
Nebraska is one of the
top agricultural states in the nation, but the state's
expansive farmland was not always viewed as productive.
Some early European explorers mistakenly considered those
wide open spaces as "The Great American Desert."
♪♪
I mentioned U.S. grain exports earlier in the show.
Selling American farm products to people overseas
not only secures foreign markets,
it can provide a means for improving diplomatic relations.
Also provides significant nutritional benefits.
Take for example one program to Morocco that benefits
both people and animals.
♪♪
Morocco, a North Africa nation
with a vibrant cities like Casablanca,
snow-capped mountains and vast dry desert land.
♪♪
40 percent of the 33 million people here live in rural areas.
Incomes in these areas are based largely on agriculture and the
majority of people living in these areas are poor.
This is the open air market in Bourdan, Morocco.
Take a look around.
Farmers bring their cattle here, one two three at a time.
And they auction them off.
Think about the challenges you face when you try to
change this sort of activity.
It's been done this way here for centuries.
Folks we'll see this and they'll think...
They'll take a step back in time.
For dairy farmer's Amusin Muhammed,
the long-established customs and markets are a way of life.
He purchased three milking cows in 1995.
Small farmers like Muhammed often barely get by on their own
But look around his small farm and you see signs of change
and a better life for his family.
A more modern milking parlour.
Expanded barns for the cows.
A new addition to his home,
complete with a personal computer.
Are you happy with the success that you've had?
You've really grown pretty considerably.
Muhammed intends to someday have 80 milking cows.
He credits his membership in a dairy cooperative for
improving his bottom line and ultimately his family's life.
A visit to a farm near El Jadida shows us the
past, present and potential future cattle farming here.
Abdel Fettah Ammar is converting his operation from
confined tethered cattle to a modern open-style feedlot.
Mustapha explains why.
We're not here to impose a production practice.
Our model is a U.S. model, but what we're trying to do
is to improve their production practices.
So it's clear that programs are
improving lives on the ground here.
But are they are they really helping US farmers?
♪♪
A visit to a chicken farm in Morocco provides some answers.
The growth of the Moroccan poultry industry is tied to
U.S. efforts in the 1990s.
That's when the U.S. Grains Council helped
poultry farmers form an association.
The chicken farmers lobbied the government
to reduce corn import tariffs.
Now modern-style poultry operations like this one are
popping up across the countryside.
Khair Eddine Soussi is the association's president.
Anytime you're asking people to change the way they do things
that they've been doing for generations, it's a challenge.
That's the way it is around the world.
Is it a... Has it been a challenge to
convince people to adopt these practices?
And that translates into higher grain prices for farmers.
Evidence agricultural trade associations say of the
success of their overseas efforts.
But developing overseas markets is a long-term
investment with payoff that isn't always immediate.
Evidenced as we explore the market for wheat in Morocco.
Here Casablanca residents bring their wheat to small
neighborhood mills to be milled for baking at home.
The raw wheat arrives by bike, car...
Even bringing wheat in a taxi.
On first blush it's hard to see where large scale efforts could
find a market for U.S. wheat imports in this kind of system.
But compare the traditional corner mill to
the TRIA Mill not far away.
This is where U.S. wheat producers
see a growing opportunity.
And its why in 1994 U.S. Wheat Associates invested millions of
dollars to partner in a wheat milling school in Casablanca.
The U.S. can't compete on price against closer producers,
but the school helps millers recognize and
utilize the value of specific types of higher-quality
wheat to be milled for specialty breads and pastries.
Corner bakeries with high-end
pastry products like this one are popular.
Moroccan's eat more than twice as many wheat-based
products per capita than people in the United States.
So even if the overall market share
for U.S. wheat is just over 10 percent...
it adds up to more than 11 million bushels a year.
♪♪
If you're sitting down to dinner in Morocco,
it's a good bet that couscous will be on the menu.
Couscous is a staple food in many countries
surrounding the Mediterranean.
In fact it's often considered the
"National Dish of North Africa."
Couscous is made from tiny granules of durum wheat that
are steamed and served with chicken, beef or vegetables.
We've served up corn, wheat and rice, but how about barley?
If you're from the south, you may have enjoyed barley
in recipes like Hoppin' John or barley soup.
Nutritionists love barley because
the whole grain is loaded with fiber.
But if you've not had barley in a main dish recipe,
you may have had barley in a beverage.
Rob Stewart says, depending on what you're drinking,
that barley may have come from one family farm in Idaho.
♪♪
Wheat is what usually comes to mind when you see images
like this, but here in St. Anthony, Idaho,
the "amber waves of grain" are all about barley.
We have the capacity to cut a lot of barley if it will
just get the right moisture level.
This is Crapo Farms - where the five Crapo brothers,
their sons and grandsons will plant and harvest
some 8,000 acres of barley...
a golden glow that extends to the horizon.
Your barley is used for malt.
To go to beer.
We contract with three of the major malting companies,
and those companies have some of their own varieties.
The companies actually develop these varieties they
have light beer, they have different- different brews.
And a lot of it comes from this right here
the barley in your field.
Yeah it does.
♪♪
This late August afternoon is the first day of harvest
for a barley crop that went into the ground in mid-April.
Using GPS automated machinery,
this family of farmers will comb the fields.
As with many crops across the heartland,
harvest is often a race against the elements.
See we've had some days where we've had some high winds.
Uh... We've had 40, 50 mile gusts,
and when the barley is this ripe it will shatter the
heads and the kernels will fall on the ground.
So weather is the big deal?
The big deal is it's going on the ground and you don't get it.
The Crapo's have been farming for more than a century.
George's grandfather started the farm with just 15 acres.
They will raise a variety of crops-
potatoes
and alfalfa.
But on this afternoon, the buzz is all about barley.
Ok you guys, is this thing ready to go?
Yeah, I think so.
The harvest season holds a special attraction
for young Colby Crapo.
That's because when autumn turns to winter,
Colby will jump from combine driving to
professional snowmobile racing.
Uh, it works good 'cause in the summer we farm and then after
everything's all harvested then I can go back and race
and then when that's over to come back and go farm.
Your dad told me this is what you wanted to do since
you were nine years old, you just knew.
Yeah I've always loved doing it like with my dad when I
was just a little kid and then just always kind of liked it.
When I grew up and you went to work, uh, driving a
tractor that's what you did is drive a tractor.
Nowadays we have GPS-driven machines and you hit a
button and it comes into line and- and drives itself.
So agriculture is changing but it's exciting and it's
fun and there's a- there's a real uh... it's a real exciting
field if you have the courage and the guts to- to go for it.
That fortitude and sticking together when times are
tough are part of what's kept this family farming
since the early 1900's.
But also important to them is a focus on the land
that provides their crops.
Sustainability and keeping the soil fertile and-
and preserving our water rights all of these issues
are very important to us.
We are true environmentalists.
We're on the ground every day and we do everything we can-
can think to do to make this farm stay viable.
None of us are too proud to go help the other guy.
And I- I feel like that tradition has been handed down.
On this farm if there's a problem,
it's everybody's problem.
♪♪
And that's going to do it for us this time.
We thank you for traveling the country with us
on this edition of America's Heartland.
We are always so pleased that you can join us.
Have you checked out our America's Heartland website yet?
We have video from all of our programs and
lots more information.
You'll find us at AmericasHeartland.org
And remember that we have lots going on
in all of the social media venues as well.
Thanks for being with us.
We'll see you next time on America's Heartland.
You can purchase a DVD or Blu Ray copy of this program.
Here's the cost:
To order, just visit us online or call:
♪You can see it in the eyes of every woman and man♪
♪In America's Heartland living close to the land♪
♪There's a love for the country And a pride in the brand♪
♪In America's Heartland♪
♪Living close Close to the land♪
♪♪
America's Heartland is made possible by...
Farm Credit - Financing agriculture and rural America since 1916.
Farm Credit is cooperatively owned by America's farmers and ranchers.
Learn more at farmcredit.com
CropLife America - Representing the companies whose
modern farming innovations help America's farmers provide
nutritious food for communities around the globe.