America's Heartland
is made possible by....

They make up a small
part of our population,

but have a huge
impact on our lives.

They take business risks
that few others would tolerate

all on our behalf.

They're American farmers who
feed, fuel and clothe the world.

Monsanto would like to
recognize them for all they do

for the rest of us,

because ultimately
our success and everyone else's

depends on theirs.

....and by the American
Farm Bureau Federation

- the voice of agriculture.

Coming up....

Protecting our ability
to produce:

farmers help farmers in a unique
program to bring in the crops.

Then health conscious American's
create a big demand

for sunflowers,
golden harvest in the heartland.

Sorghum is one of the
world's oldest grains.

It's finding new fans
on a farm in Ohio.

And breeding better cattle:

A Nebraska farm family seizes
the opportunity to help ranchers

improve their stock.

America's Heartland is next.

♪ You can see it in the eyes of
every woman and man ♪

♪ in America's Heartland
living close to the land. ♪

♪ There's a love for the country
and a pride in the brand ♪

♪ in America's Heartland living
close, close to the land. ♪

♪ In America's Heartland. ♪

Hello and welcome to
America's Heartland .

I'm Paul Ryan.

We like to think of it as a
distinctly American value:

the willingness to go all-out
to help family, friends,

neighbors, and yes,
even strangers in need.

Out here in the heartland
where the crops are grown;

livestock tended,
the challenges are plenty.

Folks can find themselves
in need of a helping hand.

When things start going wrong
on the family farm,

the need may be greater
than friend or neighbor

or family member can offer.

In one state a group of
farmers, tired of watching

their colleagues fall on
hard times, have banded together

to help them save their
farms and their livelihood.

Well, I was having chest pains,
and I was short of breath.

And I went to my local
doctor, and he scheduled me

for a stress test in Camden,
North Dakota, my local hospital.

And I flunked it.

And flunking meant that farmer
Ron Tschepen was headed

straight to the operating room
for quadruple bypass surgery.

That was bad enough,
but even worse

it laid him low at a critical
time when his wheat crop

was coming in.

Ron needed help.

Hi there, Ron. How are you?

Feeling a lot better.

Help arrived just in time
in the form of retired farmer

named Gene Spichke
and a handful of other folks.

You came all the way
from South Dakota?

Good man!

They spent days
in the cabs of combines

harvesting Ron's wheat crop.

Who are these
angels in the heartland ?

They're volunteers, members
of Farm Rescue , an organization

made up of farmers
helping farmers.

Farm Rescue was founded
in 2006 by Bill Gross,

a North Dakota Farm
boy who, once grown up,

took to the sky as
a pilot for UPS.

Still, he's kept one foot
on the ground.

His roots in agriculture run
deep, and he knows how sickness

or accidents
or tornados can wipe out

hard-working farm families.

He wanted to help out,
and Farm Rescue was born.

A farmer has had to
have a major illness,

injury or natural disaster
occur to them.

And Farm Rescue is just to help
a farmer through a tough time

so they can continue
their operation.

The volunteers at Farm Rescue
make it very clear

that they are here to lend
a hand to farmers in need;

not give them a handout.

So there's a strict application
process that requires applicants

to divulge a lot of information,
including financial,

before they can be selected.

Farm Rescue wants to make
sure that the farmer is not

financially capable of hiring
people to come in

to do the work.

So far, the organization has
helped more than thirty farmers

plant and harvest crops across
several Midwestern states

and Montana.

Since the mission is to aid
people truly in need

and spread the help around,
this is intended

as a one-time fix.

A farmer can only apply once
every three years.

So it is meant to be a one-time
only to help them through

a tough time so they
can continue their operation.

Farm Rescue depends on
donations to keep going.

The money buys fuel and
parts for all its combines,

harvesters and tractors
which have also been donated.

Because of liability,
Farm Rescue rarely uses

the farmer's equipment.

It's hard to figure
out who benefits more:

the farmers on the receiving end
or the Farm Rescue volunteers.

Thank God for all the
work they've been doin' for me,

took a load off of me, so
I don't have to worry so much,

ya know.

He can relax a little bit.

He's resting.

He's just doing walking
like he's supposed to.

Otherwise he'd be up pacing.

Well, back when I farmed
and farms were a lot closer

together, there were a lot
more farmers than there are now.

If a farmer got sick or whatever
happened to him, got hurt,

the neighbors would
get together, put the crop in,

or take it off.

Now farms are few
and far between.

Those days are gone.

As long as I'm able,
I'll keep helping.

This is great.

We can help people
that really need it.

Jamestown, North Dakota, home
to Farm Rescue , is also home

to the National Buffalo Museum.

The museum and the city's huge
buffalo statue draw nearly

one hundred thousand
visitors a year.

It's hard to miss the buffalo.

The cement sculpture is
26 feet tall and 46 feet long!

Long ago, somewhere
on the prairie,

some of our forefathers happened
upon a weed that produced

a flower
of remarkable size and color.

Just the sight of one
could brighten the eye,

but farmers soon discovered
there was food, oil and profit

in the humble sunflower.

Today the sunflower business
is as sophisticated

as that of any crop
in the heartland.

And when planted across
hundred-acre spreads,

it may be the best looking crop!

Here's Pat McConahay.

It's a blanket of yellow and
green as far as the eye can see.

This is a typical scene
in much of North Dakota during

the month of August.

You have about 20 to 25
days of the flowers blossoming

in the state.

It's just a sight to behold
to have 160 acres

of sunflowers blossoming.

And driving by
and seeing that....

Mike Clemens and his family
started growing sunflowers

in the mid 70's.

At that time, the oil and the
seeds became hot commodities.

And farmers developed
a growing interest in it

as a good rotation crop.

The profitability
of it was really the start

of the sunflower industry
in our state.

Farmers could see where it could
really add to their bottom line.

It was a crop that really helped
the producers get through

the tough time
of the 80's there .

During that decade, North
Dakota suffered dry weather

that damaged other
crops like wheat.

Farmers discovered that
sunflowers could tap into

moisture deep in the ground and
grow quite well in the state.

In 2006, North Dakota
was number one out of seven

sunflower producing states
in the country with nearly

a million acres of blooms.

Mike, I've always thought
sunflowers are such

happy plants.

They really are.

If you look at 'em,
they're all blossomed out

nice today.

Little faces.

That's what they are.

On the sunflower here right now,
the pollination is taking place

right here on this
part of the head.

The sunflower has come
a long way from it's origin

as a native
North America prairie weed.

People around the world have
come to rely on products

made from the big blooms.

One trademarked
variety called NuSun

is now a leading oil seed
crop second only to soybeans.

The market in the United States
right now is to have

a NuSun
oil for frying application.

Several food companies
are using it now.

Sunflowers are generally planted
from April through mid July

in North Dakota.

Harvest runs from late
September through October.

A check of the flower head
which begins to turn downward

let's the farmer know if
it's mature enough to cut.

This one here is
completing its pollination.

You can see the seeds here.

And you can rub 'em off, and
you can see the seeds there.

These seeds will get about
three times bigger

than what they are right now.

They will turn from a grayish
white color to a black color.

Sunflowers are harvested using
a combine that's been adapted

to take the seed.

A threshing unit separates the
seeds from the sunflower heads

and straw.

A sizeable portion
of the sunflower crop

goes into snacks and bird feed.

And of course,
it takes sunflowers

to produce sunflowers.

Sunflower seed companies like
this one in Northern California

process sunflowers seeds
that are shipped to growers

around the world.

But at this processing plant
in West Fargo, North Dakota,

oil is the name of the game.

This is one of three
sunflower crushing facilities

in the country.

A full 90 percent of the roughly
3 million acres of sunflowers

grown in the U.S.
are processed into oil.

We bring seeds into our plant.

We clean the seeds.

We dry it down, and then
we bring it into the process.

And we separate out the meal
and the oil from the seed.

The meal is turned into
a livestock feed ingredient,

and the oil goes into the
refinery for further processing.

These plants produce nearly
two hundred million pounds

of oil a year.

We used to export a majority
of our sunflower oil

from this facility.

Given the changing landscape
for oil now, we use all of our

sunflower oil domestically.

The demand remains robust.

Chefs and nutrionists value
sunflower oil for its

light taste, frying performance,
and health benefits.

It's relatively low
in saturated fats.

As a vibrant plains
native adds its signature yellow

to the amber waves
of the heartland,

it's become a versatile star
of American agriculture

from these norhtern plains
to the panhandle of Texas.

The sunflower is native
to North America.

It's also a popular crop
in many other countries.

Russia and Italy raise
expansive areas of sunflowers

for oil and animal feed.

Sunflowers can grow
from 8 to 12 feet.

One farmer in the Netherlands
raised sunflower plants

that reached almost
26 feet tall!

From time to time we like to
change the pace and bring you

some of the people,
places, and yes,

critters around the heartland
that seem worthy of note.

So let's make a quick
stop in Linden, Indiana

at a spot
that's pretty special

to fans
of old-time train travel.

♪

Still to come on
America's Heartland ....

It's a grain that's less well
known than corn or soybeans,

but one Ohio family farm
finds a future in sorghum.

And a Nebraska farm family
diversifies their operation

to help ranchers breed
better stock.

There's a crop that's a veteran
of heartland farms.

A lot of urban folks
may have heard of it,

but couldn't quite
tell you what it is.

Sorghum may not enjoy as much
widespread use as it once did,

but it's still a
versatile plant.

And it's still common enough
in popular heartland products

and recipes.

On a recent trip through Ohio,
Pat found just the man

to introduce us to this
lesser-known American staple.

From what I can remember,
when I was little,

was how good it made me feel
to help my dad.

'Course, that involved work,
and I didn't mind workin'.

Childhood memories
of working the family farm

was just one thing
that brought John Simon

back to his boyhood home
in Portsmouth Ohio.

His parents wanted him to leave,
get an education,

and have a career.

He did all of that becoming
a college professor.

But there was so much he missed
about that peaceful plot of land

on Pond Creek.

I just, you know,
the beauty of a calf,

to get to sit and pet a cat,
to look across the road

and see the hill;
hear the stream.

John's 500-acre farm
has been handed down

through five generations
beginning in the 1860's

when his great-great grandfather
came here from France.

When they got here they owned
all this timber,

white oak and that sort
of thing, on this farm.

So they were able to build
and they built a beautiful

rock dam down here.

They built this home in the
1860's with wood provided here

on the farm.

They paid a 100 dollars to a man
and his son to build that house.

Glad to still be
able to live in it.

John is also glad he can keep
his family's farming history

as well as that of the area's
Appalachian culture alive.

One of those things is the
growing of sweet sorghum.

It is best known
as a grain crop.

Today it's an unusual ingredient
for most American cooks,

but in the 1880's, sorghum cane,
which looks a lot like corn,

was made into a common
inexpensive sweetener.

So how tall does it get?

Ordinarily you might see a stock
get 8 or 9 or 10 feet tall.

One way you know it's ready to
be harvested is by the taste.

I look at the taste
more than anything.

You cut a piece off the top,
and I take that piece

- and that piece
has juice in it -

and I just bend that
over my knee and hold it up

over my mouth and twist it.

And I can tell when that juice
is ready to make sorghum.

We visited John's
farm in late July.

The crop is harvested at
the beginning of September.

So it's real low-tech
as far as the harvest?

It's low tech.

And it's also hand work.

We are still one of the farmers
in America that raises

sorghum that does it slow
and traditional.

We strip the cane and top the
cane, and we do it by hand.

We don't cut it with machines.

John's traditional approach
to raising sorghum

is one of the attractions for
visitors who make their way

to his farm each October.

That's when John holds his
annual sorghum makin' festival.

And people come here and have
a good old homespun time.

And they learn just
how he does it.

Since 1982 visitors have been
able to see how sweet sorghum

is made.

The cane is taken
to a little mill on the farm

and hand fed a few at a time.

The rollers in the mill crush
the stalks which squeezes

the juice out of the cane.

The juice is collected into a
container and eventually cooked.

Mmm, sorghum popcorn balls!

John likes to show his visitors
how versatile sorghum can be

as an ingredient
in down-home recipes

from baked beans to baked
treats like cookies.

♪ Sorghum and molasses
are all they had to eat....♪

Farming and sorghum aren't
John's only passions.

There's also music, a gift
handed down from his mother.

He especially enjoys playing
the regional tunes

passed from
generation to generation.

It's great satisfaction
to entertain yourselves

and to entertain
other people....

....and to teach others
what he so loves.

( fiddle hoe down music )

John's enthusiasm for
Appalachian tradition

has a profound impact on many
people including his students,

a couple of
whom also play music with him.

John is probably one of the
biggest influences of my life.

He probably doesn't know that.

I don't know why I'm going cry.

He's made me more aware of
music, different types of music;

how they've all melted together
more or less over the years:

rock and roll, and country.

And melding the past with the
present is something John Simon

hopes to continue as a way
to honor those who've farmed

the land before him.

Sorghum is thought to have
been first raised in Africa.

It's a popular plant there as
well as in China and India

because of varieties that are
extremely drought resistant.

Sorghum is an important grain
for farmers

west of the Mississippi.

Kansas, Texas and Nebraska
are America's top three

sorghum states.

Any rancher will tell you that
when it comes to producing

young animals
from the members of their herd,

things don't work quite the same
as they do in the human world.

Suffice it to say, that when you
gaze out across a range

covered with fine, fat calves,
it may be that quite a few

of them share the same father.

Refining good genetics
is a long-standing practice

among ranchers
as well as horse breeders.

And that has created
the highly specialized business.

Here's Jason Shoultz
in Ashland, Nebraska.

On a quiet farm
in rural Nebraska, one family

is capitalizing on
the need for seed .

By all appearances, it's
your typical heartland farm.

Cattle, horses, row crops,
the Vogler's have

all the ingredients.

But this family
has something else.

Welcome to the
Vogler Semen Centre.

It may draw strange looks or
laughs, but when it comes to

semen, the Vogler's
mean business.

And business is good.

In the beef business
genetics is critical.

To get top-quality meat,
ranchers need good cattle.

To do that, they turn
to breeding through

artificial insemination.

Ranchers will pay top dollar for
what the Vogler's collect here.

There's no better way
to increase the value

of one's pure bred herd than
through artificial insemination.

Not everyone
can go out and buy

$100,000 or $200,000 bull,
but about anybody can afford

from $15 to $50 or $100 straw of
semen in order to get this done.

As we move along here, you
know, say with certain bulls,

you produce the best genetics,
you want the most tender beef,

the most flavorful beef.

And so with the new
genetics that are coming,

you can take one bull and breed
him to thousands of cows.

Lloyd and Rosalyn Vogler
started the Vogler Semen Centre

back in 1983.

As they watched banks foreclose
on their neighbor's property

during the farm
crisis of the 1980's,

the couple knew (that)
to survive, they had to find

something else to do.

Since then, the
business has grown.

It's now a full-time
family-run operation

with the Vogler's sons
Leslie and Loren playing

a critical part.

Around 2001 the operation
expanded to include collection

from horses.

Genetics in the equine industry
are also very important.

Today Leslie and Loren
are collecting a sample

from the horse Hollidoc.

This a stud called Hollidoc.

He's a 24 year old stud.

He came here,
and so we're gonna,

we're in the process of building
a bank of frozen semen on him.

And so we'll take him down
today and collect him.

He's kind of an old pro at this.

He's been known in
the cutting end industry,

the reigning, working
cow-horse deal.

He's a horse that's
been pretty versatile.

His colts have been able
to go on and do quite a few

different things.

How many times has Hollidoc
walked down this hallway here?

Oh, there's been numerous times
he's been a real champ for us.

As you can
tell, we're getting real close.

So he'll be
starting to get himself ready.

So the hard part's done?

Yep, the physical
part is over with.

Now you've got to take
this off to be analyzed?

Yeah, we'll take it up
to the lab, and we'll check

the morphology, the count,
and the motility on it,

and see how many straws
we can freeze on it.

So what are we doing now?

Now we'll take
a sample of the semen.

We'll check for the motilty
and morphology of it.

Motility and morph....now
tell me what that means.

Motility is actually
how the sperm cells

are progressively moving,
to make sure they're motil....

...okay

...and alive.

And morphology is the
abnormality of the cells,

to make sure there aren't
too many deformed sperm cells

as far as their head or tails.

You can go ahead and freeze
a high quality sample

if you have
good motility and morphology.

So now we're going
to check for those 2 things.

And you have to
use the microscope to do that.

What we use for motility and
sperm count for the stallions

is a Hamilton Thorn
sperm analyzer.

Well, look at that.

How's that look?

As you can see, his motility
is excellent, and the morphology

is also excellent on Hollidoc.

Now this will go....somebody
will get this and ideally be

breeding some more horses.

Yeah, after this initial
evaluation, we'll go ahead

and freeze it.

And then the semen will be made
available to ship worldwide.

Loren knows his
way around the lab,

but this is really his
mom Rosalyn's territory.

The Vogler family credits her
with keeping this operation

running smoothly.

She's really the backbone
of this operation.

She holds everybody together,
you know, in a quiet way.

We all work together.

Everybody has their
own little niche that they do.

But we were fortunate
that they were both able

to stay and help us out
in the business.

When it's all over with,
I just say do whatever

you think's right.

It's a family working
together successfully

laying a foundation
for future generations.

Like many family farms, the
Vogler's are playing their part

in our nation's agriculture.

Even the age-old world
of agriculture offers up

some surprises sometimes!

And that's our show for today.

Thanks for watching.

I'm Paul Ryan,
and I'll see you next time

right here
on America's Heartland .

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