America's Heartland - Episode 206

Episode 206
	Paul Ryan takes us to Illinois to see how activity on the Chicago Board of Trade determines the price you pay for food on your table. It’s a loud and busy place where traders affect the future of agriculture everyday. Then Jason Shoultz visits a very special spot in Iowa where moviemakers from Hollywood transformed two family farms into a "Field of Dreams." We'll show you how modern windmills are generating energy for consumers, and cash for farmers and ranchers, all across the country. Jason Shoultz heads for some very special Texas towns that are using a new approach to agriculture to save their cities. And Pat McConahay introduces us to some "farmers in training." These young folks are harvesting much more than good grades in their school gardens.

A Cacophony of Commerce
The Chicago Board of Trade is one of those places most of us have heard about, but few of us actually understand. It’s where the American farm meets the world of high finance – where crops and capitalism come together in a frenzy of buying and selling.

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Field of Dreams
Farmers have to worry about all kinds of things – crop yield, future prices, the weather, rising fuel costs. That’s why so many are seeking out entirely new and different income sources – like tourism. Here’s an example – when Hollywood paid a surprise visit to a couple of Iowa farmers, they soon learned that, like the movie, "if you build it, they will come."

Reap the Wild Wind
It’s quiet out on the high plains of Wyoming. An ancient silence broken by the gentle sounds of cows lowing, ranchers talking about the day’s work ahead. And the sound of huge propellers starting up, responding to nature’s free and abundant offering: the wind.

Texas, Yes!
Even if a farmer has the time and the inclination to get into agri-tourism, promoting their product to city slickers usually means getting into unfamiliar territory. But in Texas, Jason Shoultz learned rural communities and farmers are getting help turning their history and hard work into a selling point for visitors.

Digging Your Schoolwork
Getting city folks out on the farm is one way to help them appreciate all that farmers do. Another way is to show them how to grow a few crops of their own. As Pat McConahay found in Missouri, it’s best to start them young and let them discover with their own hands the miracle of seed and soil.

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The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, Farm Credit, and the United Soybean Board make presentation of America's Heartland possible.

Additional production and promotion assistance is provided by
The American Soybean Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, U.S. Grains Council,
National Association of Wheat Growers, and the National FFA Organization.