This special edition of the Lancaster Farming Industrial Hemp Podcast celebrates the 70th anniversary of Lancaster Farming Newspaper, which has been reporting on agriculture since 1955.

Recorded at Penn State's Ag Progress Days, this episode is a love letter to farming and to the people who make it possible. Farmers and ag leaders reflect on why they farm, what's changed, and what remains timeless — love of land, faith, family, and devotion.

Here's a quote from Wendell Berry that frames the conversation:

"Why do farmers farm, given their economic adversities on top of the many frustrations and difficulties normal to farming? And always the answer is: "Love. They must do it for love." Farmers farm for the love of farming. They love to watch and nurture the growth of plants. They love to live in the presence of animals. They love to work outdoors. They love the weather, maybe even when it is making them miserable. They love to live where they work and to work where they live. If the scale of their farming is small enough, they like to work in the company of their children and with the help of their children. They love the measure of independence that farm life can still provide. I have an idea that a lot of farmers have gone to a lot of trouble merely to be self-employed to live at least a part of their lives without a boss."

― Wendell Berry, "Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Food"

Learn More

Ag Progress Days

Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Wendell Berry – The Berry Center

Sponsors

IND HEMP — Believing in the goodness of hemp.

King's AgriSeeds — High-quality seed for over three decades.

Forever Green — Distributor of the KP4 Hemp Cutter.