America's Heartland

There is a shortage of large animal vets in our country, and will continue to drop in the next decade. Some of America’s best wool comes from New Mexico. The vet school at UC Davis works to protect livestock. Get a taste of the honey that comes from Florida’s Tupelo Trees. It’s some of the sweetest on earth!

Agri-tourism and new product lines keep an Arizona couples’ ranch alive. Rhody Fresh milk is a local favorite in Rhode Island! A Missouri farming family opens their home to share the enjoyment of living on the land. Get a taste of the Schell Brewery in Minnesota; their beer is appreciated throughout the Midwest.

A 19-year-old is hard at work on his farm! Dairy farmers in the Midwest join forces to make creamery butter. A photographer captures the face of American agriculture through his lens. Stuckmeyer’s Farm Market and Greenhouse is a touch of rural America. It’s a farm that’s been passed down to a fourth generation!

A one of a kind horseradish festival in Collinsville, Illinois, a hard shell harvest for oysters in Florida, how a growing appetite for wine is changing farmland in Texas, a major lemon supplier in southern California.

Heaving spring rains in 2008 led rivers to overflow, flooding the fields and ruining crops in Illinois. The Hurst Family Farm and Greenery in Northern Missouri is still successful despite mother nature’s setbacks. An Agricultural Weather Information Service (AWIS) tracks weather conditions—measuring moisture and how temperature will impact crop and livestock.

Meet a farming family in Blue Springs, Nebraska growing wheat and corn. Farming has become a diversified act here! A school in Mt. Eden, Kentucky teaches students how to make horseshoes. Find out how agriculture impacts our lives in Bonner Springs, Kansas. Residents of rural communities in Kansas have claimed fame in some very unique attractions found nowhere else!

A research scientist and veterinarian are starting out in farming in Sidney, Illinois. Look to Wisconsin for the wide varieties of cheese being created from local dairies. Visit the Kansas City Farmers Market; it’s a landmark! The Farmers Diner in Quechee Gorge, Vermont is a local eatery which specializes in using meat and produce from local farmers! The Blue Plate Specials, are really special.

Paul Ryan visits the Henry A Wallace Country Life Center. Sarah Gardner looks at farming practices that improve America's air quality. Jason Shoultz visits an organic farm in Florida working hard to support community agriculture. Yolanda Vazquez travels to Kentucky where a new research project is assessing how goats can be used to eradicate a noxious weed found all across the South.

Board the USS Ronald Reagan to find out how the harvest from the heartland is serving those who serve us. Meet the men and women onboard who have their roots and values buried deep in the heartland. They come from the ranches, the farms and the small farming communities throughout the country.

The Chinn family hog farm in Clarence, Missouri is a high tech operation. Learn the history of the famous Bob Evans Family Restaurants—from a small family farm in Ohio to all over our country.The Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia gives us a taste of what makes them so special. Like pickles? Gedney Pickles is a Minnesota family operation that uses special cucumbers to make their tasty pickles.

Visit Triangle farms in Oregon, specializing in seed production and processing for six generations.Pheasants are being raised in Wisconsin.In Pennsylvania Dutch country lies the Landis Valley Museum—a living history museum dedicated to the culture and heritage of German families settled in the area since the 1700s. Horses are pulling the power of ag in Texas as the demand for bigger farms rise.

Paul Ryan learns about cheese making at a one of a kind sheep dairy in New Jersey. Jason Shoultz goes on a watery harvest for clams off the Gulf Coast of Florida. Ron Hyde finds out how citrus research is developing flavorful new varieties at a growing operation in Central California. Yolanda Vazquez travels to Rhode Island where sheep ranchers have found a way to market their wool to locals.

Paul Ryan discovers urban farming on the rooftops and in the gardens of New York City. Sarah Gardner meets an Oregon rancher who breeds his own stock and competes on the national rodeo circuit. Hena Cuevas finds out that many urban dwellers are becoming “RuralPolitans.” Jason Shoultz travels to Long Island where multigenerational families are working farms that date back centuries.

The road to some creative uses for corn starts on Alan Tiemann’s Nebraska farm. It’s a journey that takes this commodity halfway around the world to Taiwan. A country of some 23 million people, Taiwan is one of the foreign markets where American grain products play an important role in the economy. The world’s most populous country is a potentially big market for U.S. agricultural goods.

There’s a wild west story of cattle and exotic antelope on an historic New Mexico ranch—complete with buckboards, covered wagons, forts, and cowboys and Indians. Urban agriculture is alive and well in NYC. Visit the annual Antique Farm Expo in Washington—farms take pride in their antique equipment. A Japanese-American farm family is growing the sweet produce in Oregon!

Paul Ryan learns about fresh seafood at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Jason Shoultz sees how fisheries are protected in Long Island Sound. Yolanda Vazquez meets a Kentucky family who left the city behind to start a mushroom farming operation. Jim Finnerty heads for the Lone Star State, America’s #1 cotton producer and research there is looking to improve how the fiber is used in clothing.

Use modern technology to track each piece of fish caught! Environmentalists and CA ranchers joined together to improve watersheds and grasslands. A ranch in South Central Colorado gives a unique opportunity for urban folks to experience what a working cattle ranch is like on the inside. Find out how wine and romance shape a couple in Wisconsin’s everyday life.

Visit a California racetrack that uses solar panels to generate power to keep the horses cool, Texas farmers make big profits harvesting wind power, a new demand for rice is a boon for California rice growers, visit a North Carolina greenhouse where automation makes it easier to get the plants from the field to your patio.

Host Paul Ryan finds that pleasant smells sell at a California Lavender farm. Texas cotton farmers face some challenges from nature in getting in the crop. Reporter Sarah Gardner visits West Virginia where farmers harvest hardwoods on their land. Reporter Jason Shoultz meets a Minnesota artist who captures rural life on canvas.

California walnut grower turning shells into power for the farm. Reporter Jason Shoultz visits a Minnesota plant that generates electricity from poultry litter. Reporter Hena Cuevas takes us to a North Carolina company using soybeans to make furniture foam. Meet two California dairymen who have a new approach to selling cheese.