March 2019

This week we travel to Anchorage, Alaska, where Nik Bouman owns and operates a hydroponic herb farm. With Alaskans relying heavily on food imports, Nik’s farm provides locally-grown, fresh options for area residents.

Nearly all farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners across the country rely on one common resource for production: their soil. If you’re interested in learning more about this medium that grows our nation’s food, fuel, and fiber, we’re here with a tool to help.

Farmers and ranchers are the backbone of America.

They grow food to feed us, fiber to clothe us, and fuel to run our homes and cars. In doing so, they also provide economic stability across the nation – stability that supports rural economies and creates much-needed jobs in local communities. No matter who we are, where we live, or what we do, we all have daily reason to celebrate and thank #ourfarmers.

This week we travel to Chowchilla, California, where Jim Chew grows pistachios with his wife and son on their operation – Forever Grateful Ranch.

Jim has faced challenges in recent years, but he’s emerged with a newfound passion for life and farming. This is reflected in all that Jim does, down to the name of his ranch itself.

Early one morning, in the summer of 2018, Bill Rose was walking through a forested area of his family’s farm in Phillipston, Massachusetts. The area had been thinned as part of a forest conservation project. With just six to 10 trees per acre left standing and scattered brush piles everywhere, the land looked very different than before the cut.

In this week’s #FridaysOnTheFarm, we meet Carlos Gonzalez Torrez, an experienced farmworker and student at the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association in Salinas, California.

Carlos has spent many years on the farm, hand picking artichokes, strawberries, and Brussels sprouts. He’s now working with ALBA to build his own operation.