Category Archives: Features

By Laura Fisher, FSA Farm Loan Specialist Amy Hicks, owner and operator of Amy’s Garden in Charles City, Virginia, developed a passion for playing in the dirt at an early age. She grew up eating a variety of vegetables fresh … Continue reading →

By: Savannah Halleaux, FSA Jesse and Tracey Paul of Paul Family Sugarbush in Trout Creek, Michigan, and their five children – Austin, Daltin, Priscilla, Bethany, and Mitchell – work together as a family to produce up to 4,000 gallons of … Continue reading →

By Lauren Moore, USDA Spring planting is starting across the country when many agricultural producers are investing in their future. It is no doubt that farming and ranching is a capital-intensive business. From growing row crops to raising livestock or … Continue reading →

By Shelby Johnson, Arizona FSA As a high school student in Round Valley, Arizona, Kevin McFee worked for local ranchers and began growing a herd of his own. From Angus to Longhorns, Kevin and his wife, Missy, now run a … Continue reading →

By: Dawn Pindell, FSA Jeffrey, Louis and Jacob Lipton are owners and operators of Pleasant View Farms in Somers, Connecticut. The farm has been in the Lipton family since 1918. Originally a dairy, the farm has transitioned into growing 600 … Continue reading →

By: Janlyn Hannah, Farm Service Agency and Mary Collier, Natural Resources Conservation Service Tammy Higgins is a cow/calf operator in Okemah, Oklahoma, who has met cattle market, drought, and financing obstacles head-on and come out on top. Tammy is a … Continue reading →

By Lauren Moore, USDA The Harlow family has been growing vegetables on their farm in Westminster, Vermont, for over a century. Paul G. Harlow bought the property in 1917, where the family milked cows and sold vegetables at a roadside … Continue reading →

By Jessica Claypole, Missouri Farm Service Agency Agriculture has always been a way of life for Tanner Pace, a Howell County, Missouri-native. “I have been involved in agriculture in depth ever since I was a young teenager, helping put up … Continue reading →

Carlos Gonzalez Torrez is 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 … Continue reading →

By Mary Kirby, Illinois FSA In 2007, Mike and Kim Staley purchased a farm in Elmwood, Illinois. Formerly an apple orchard, the couple decided to transition the land into a maple syrup operation after watching a documentary about how to … Continue reading →