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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I read this because it is the 2019 All Iowa Reads book (and All Nebraska reads, too I believe). I'll see the author this fall at a library conference. I was glad to read this book. It chronicles the challenges of farm life with both personal stories and a lengthy history of the Midwest. The financial system that farms operate in are precarious. The author engenders kinship with the family he studies which gives the readers a steady lens to understand climate, water, finances, politics and relationships.
I am a big fan of Ted Genoways for his book The Chain and I was curious to see how he told the story of this other side of the same meat-centric American food chain. I found This Blessed Earth to be a very strong book interweaving the lived experience of a mostly-mainstream farming family in the United States' plains and the macro-level historic and contemporary factors that make it so challenging to evolve away from extractive, industrial farming, even for the best-intentioned farmers. This is the second book I read in 2021 with such an emphasis on hydrogeology and irrigation (the other one being about the Soviet Union) and it made me realize how little I know about such critical infrastructure underpinning our civilization - far more important than highways, frankly. Pleasant to read, too. Recommended!
Overjoyed that this is a book that sits in the agriculture genre section. This is a great story of a real farm family and gives insight into what it feels like and what needs to be taken into consideration while making decisions on the farm.
Fascinating snapshot of the life of those who aren't particularly visible to most of us but whose work is critically important.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Author Ted Genoways, who is from Nebraska and the son of a farming man, spends a year with the life of Rick Hammond and his family in small-town Nebraska. The Hammond family farms beef cattle, corn, and soybeans on their lots and have done so for generations.
The author shadows them as they go about their daily life on the farm, branding calves, watering the crops, harvesting soybeans, or fixing farm machinery when it breaks down. He also writes about the history of the farming industry in the United States. He writes about the Homestead act giving any American who wanted it 160 acres of land. And how President Lincoln created the United States Department of Agriculture and the A&M (Agricultural & Mechanical) colleges in the United States! I had no idea that Lincoln was so involved in farming. He also writes about the invention of the Central Pivot Irrigation systems, a watering system that you've probably seen from afar, or by air (or both). Throughout the history of the farm, he weaves the Hammond family's story.
There was a lot of stuff I learned about farming in this book. I am giving this four stars because I feel like he left a lot of questions unanswered. For example Rick Hammond near the end of the book bought two bulls and took them to the cow pasture, but only for a little while? Why? I had to go look up cattle husbandry to learn why, but would have vastly preferred to hear it from the author. So that is why I'm giving it four stars.
The author shadows them as they go about their daily life on the farm, branding calves, watering the crops, harvesting soybeans, or fixing farm machinery when it breaks down. He also writes about the history of the farming industry in the United States. He writes about the Homestead act giving any American who wanted it 160 acres of land. And how President Lincoln created the United States Department of Agriculture and the A&M (Agricultural & Mechanical) colleges in the United States! I had no idea that Lincoln was so involved in farming. He also writes about the invention of the Central Pivot Irrigation systems, a watering system that you've probably seen from afar, or by air (or both). Throughout the history of the farm, he weaves the Hammond family's story.
There was a lot of stuff I learned about farming in this book. I am giving this four stars because I feel like he left a lot of questions unanswered. For example Rick Hammond near the end of the book bought two bulls and took them to the cow pasture, but only for a little while? Why? I had to go look up cattle husbandry to learn why, but would have vastly preferred to hear it from the author. So that is why I'm giving it four stars.
slow-paced
This book took far too long for me to get through. At roughly 200 pages, it is dense and not a leisure read. I struggled to be invested in the history of farming. Some of it was interesting, like when it was interspersed with the story of Rick and his farm. But the textbook like chapters had me bored. I think this one could have been a bit more engaging had the writing style had more narrative. If you like farming and it's history, you will definitely enjoy this memoir.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
How are actual farm families part of the story, problems, and possible solutions of large-scale agriculture and the food business in our country? If you care about the environment, food, and agriculture, Genoways fleshes out what books like "The Omnivore's Dilemma" make into cardboard cutouts of "bad farmers" into actual people and their history, struggles, and love of their land.
Interesting insight into the family farm. I got a little lost in the technical stuff but overall it was quite informative. I have more respect for the hard work that the American family farm does these day.