America's Heartland - Episode 311

Episode 311

Paul Ryan reports on a huge Indiana dairy farm milking 32,000 cows a day. Pat McConahay meets Ohio farmers converting their fields to vineyards. Jason Shoultz meets farmers in Mississippi harvesting acres and acres of catfish. And farmers in New Jersey get help from the state to protect their land from urban expansion.

From Grass to Glass
On our travels throughout the heartland we’ve visited small farms, big farms, and really big farms. But there are some that, in size anyway, simply defy classification.

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Reborn Vintages
The Ohio River Valley was once America’s greatest wine-producing region.Even today at 16-million acres, it’s still one of the biggest in the country. Ohio winemaker Bill Skvarla says,“It’s gone from the perception that the Ohio Valley is grape juice with alcohol in it to where we’re now producing world quality and international award winning wines."

Acres & Acres of Catfish
Not all heartland farmers are working with soil and crops. Aquaculture is a big player in the world of food production. And in American aquaculture – catfish is king. The whiskered critters account for nearly half of all fish farming in the United States.

Preserving Home & Heartland
New Jersey is one of America’s most densely populated states. So it’s no surprise that farmers are feeling squeezed, both in their acreage and their finances. But some of the other eight-point-seven million people in that state are providing answers: innovative ways to keep half a million of the last farm acres in the hands of farmers.

Say Cheese
Cheese maker Randy Krahenbuhl oversees the process which involves several steps in heating fresh milk; adding ingredients to gel the mixture; then cutting the product into curds. While visitors look on, the freshly cut curds, the initial step are packed into stainless steel boxes and put on a press where the liquid or whey is squeezed out.

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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.