By Gary Joiner Modern attitudes toward agriculture are interesting. And challenging. You wonder if farmers and ranchers are trustworthy? Yes, they are! About 75 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion toward farmers and ranchers, according to a recent survey. What about the way they farm or ranch? Not so much. Only 42 percent view [...]
By Julie Tomascik Things go wrong. Equipment breaks down. It rains when you don’t want it to, and doesn’t rain when you need it to. Cows are calving. Crops need to be planted. And harvested. There’s always a task that needs to be completed on the farm, especially when you have somewhere to be. And [...]
By Julie Tomascik You think farming is easy? It can seem that way from the outside looking in. Plant seeds. Watch them grow. And harvest the crop a few months later. That’s how it works in our gardens, right? Yes. But this is different. It’s running tractors and plows. Early mornings. Night owls. Farmers and [...]
By Julie Tomascik It’s bright. Yellow. And sometimes mistaken for a weed. But this crop—canola—is growing in popularity in the Lone Star State. For nearly 10 years, Justin Crownover and his family have been planting canola on their farm in the Texas Panhandle. It’s a crop not many think of when shopping at the grocery [...]
By Shala Watson Agriculture is full of stereotypes. Boots and overalls. The hayseed plowboy. And all men. But it’s changing. The demographics are shifting. There’s a place for women in agriculture, too. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service shows the number of men operating farms is decreasing, while the number of women [...]
