Tag Archives: ranching

On the Horizon–The Road Less Traveled

Family farms have been a tradition in America for years. From crops to livestock, farmers keep the grocery stores shelves stocked and the clothes racks full.

A trend that is emerging is the average age of farmers is increasing and less and less young farmers are coming up to take their place. With the global population nearing nine billion, a small amount of people are presented with the task of feeding and clothing more with less.

Despite this grim scenario, a young couple in Western Oklahoma are bucking the trends and have a farm and then some. I was able to spend a couple days with the Base family at their farm in Geary, Okla. It was easy to see their passion for agriculture and it was obvious to see how dedicated they are.

In today’s video blog, we take a look at the Base Vines and Cattle farm. Diversity doesn’t begin to describe what the Base family does. They seem to have their hands in all things agriculture. They have a little bit of traditional and a little bit of nontraditional. All in all they are definitely doing their part in feeding the world.

Andy Barth

On the Horizon: Variety on the Farm from Alisa Hines on Vimeo.

On the Horizon: Bring Home the Cattle

The cows are starting to come home in Southwestern Oklahoma. But high prices are slowing down the process. When I traveled to the Southwest corner of the state last year, I found crunchy ground, long trailer lines at the sale yards, and people rationing their water. It was site I prayed I would never have to see again.

As this spring rolled around, the rains poured across North Central Oklahoma where I live. But I wondered what was happening with our friends to the Southwest of us. I was very pleased to find that they had gotten 14 inches of rain by the month of June! Things were definitely turning around for them and I knew I had to get back down there and tell the other half of their story.

In this week’s video blog, we take a look at how the citizens of Caddo County survived the drought and how they are bouncing back and reclaiming their livelihoods.
Andy Barth
 

On the Horizon: Child labor laws – We’re talking about a way of life

Over Christmas I had the rare opportunity to turn the camera on my own family. I managed to escape some of the holiday madness by hiding behind my lens as my family worked throughout the holidays on our ranch in Northeast Kansas.

Few issues have ignited as much debate as the proposed child labor laws and like hundreds of other families our opinions on the issue are strong. We could think of no better way to portray this story than through the eyes of my little sister. For a few days I followed her around our ranch in Tonganoxie, Kansas, and eventually on to our grandparent’s ranch in Allen, Kansas. The story not only tackled the debate head on it may just have ended up being one of the most rewarding stories in my young career.

In this week’s video blog, the DeHoff family shows us what farming and ranching is really all about.
~Courtenay DeHoff