Tune in to RFD-TV on Wednesday, April 16, at 5:30 EDT for a new episode of "America’s Heartland" highlighting farmers and ranchers who are using sustainable strategies to adapt to increasingly challenging and unpredictable weather conditions.
Produced in collaboration with SARE and PBS KVIE, the episode showcases a range of innovative farming techniques, rural community resilience and creative approaches to preserving land for future generations.
- See how Ashley Loehr and Antoine Guerlain responded to both drought and catastrophic flooding on their diversified vegetable farm in South Royalton, Vermont. They run a certified-organic farm cultivating popcorn, wheat and hay on 37 acres. Strip cropping, buffer strips and a diverse mix of short-cycle and long-season crops provide more flexibility to help reduce income gaps caused by crop loss.
- The Hamilton family manages Southern Valley Fruit and Vegetable Farm in Norman Park, Georgia, where extreme heat and intensifying hurricane seasons have forced them and other producers to adapt. Adjusting harvesting times protects workers from extreme heat, while growing crops year round across three strategic locations maintains a more reliable income stream.
- Luke Peterson shares his family’s regenerative approach to cultivating organic grains and grass-fed beef at A-Frame Farm in Madison, Minnesota. By minimizing tillage, rotating crops and incorporating deep-rooted plants like Kernza, they’re restoring the soil’s health and boosting resilience to droughts and heavy storms.
- In Waterloo, Iowa, the Westerns carry on their family’s legacy as one of Iowa’s pioneering Black farming families. Facing generations of challenges, the Westerns adopted no-till farming, cover crops and carbon-capture practices to reduce off-farm inputs, regenerate the soil and better manage extreme weather.
- After inheriting overgrazed land, Joe and Kathy Kipp installed fencing and irrigation to better manage scarce water resources on their ranch on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. Through their work with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the Kipps have restored native prairie grasslands and improved drought resilience to sustain their cattle and bison, all while preserving their land for future generations.
Watch the episode on RFD-TV on Wednesday, April 16, at 5:30 EDT. RFD-TV is carried nationwide on DISH, DIRECTV (satellite) and many cable systems: https://www.rfdtv.com/find-us-on-tv.
If you miss the broadcast, stay tuned! SARE Outreach will share a link to the episode online in the near future.