America's Heartland - Episode 218

Episode 218
	It’s crops and computers. software and satellite imagery. America’s farmers are using “high tech” to bring in the harvest in the heartland. Using the latest from science, farmers are improving crop yields and taking advantage of technology to make farming easier and more profitable. Then some have called it a “miracle of farming” in the desert. They’ve planted their trees in one of the harshest environments on earth. just adjacent to Death Valley. We’ll visit with some California growers whose delicious dates are the pick of the crop. We travel to Wisconsin to explore a unique and uplifting program that helps farmers overcome disabilities to stay on the land. Plus, you’ll be “A-Mazed” by a Utah farmer who’s come up with artistic creations in his cornfield. He’s not using brush and paint, however. He uses a tractor and harvester to carve out his particular works of art. And it’s one of the smallest nuts, but it’s “big” on nutrition. One Oregon Farm family looks at a healthy harvest in Hazelnuts.

High Tech Ag
Amidst the 2 and a half million-acre “Golden Sands” farming region of central Wisconsin, the lowly potato is getting the high-tech treatment.

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Help for Disabled Farmers
Randy Hartjes isn’t afraid of hard work, but chronic health problems haven’t made it easy for him to handle all the chores on his Wisconsin dairy farm. Andy suffers from what is called “Brittle Bone Disease,” a hereditary condition that causes chronic pain, stiff joints and his bones to easily break.

Desert Dates
It’s one of the hottest and driest places on earth. Brian Brown farms an area on southern California on the edge of Death Valley. But Brian has a thirst for farming. A thirst he quenches by growing sweet, succulent dates in an orchard known as “China Ranch.”

Hazelnuts
This region is home to 99 percent of America’s Hazelnut production. Working with agents from Oregon State University’s extension service and talking with growers, Dick learned enough to keep his twenty-five acres of hazelnuts in production.

Corn Maze Builder
Maybe it’s the sheer excitement of being utterly, and safely lost. The camaraderie of the group working together. Figuring out how to find that elusive, single exit. Or, just the nostalgia of being “back on the farm”. Whatever it is everyone seems to like getting lost.

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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.