AMERICA'S HEARTLAND Season 15


#1501
Rob Stewart is taking us cross country this time for a visit to some of the fairs and festivals that celebrate our rural lifestyle. You’ll head for some good eating at the National Cornbread Festival in Tennessee. You’ll meet a Wisconsin teenager whose future lies in dairy farming, but whose hobby is demolition derby driving at rural county fairs. Country cooking is on the menu as Chef Sharon Profis serves up tasty dishes using barley and a small Iowa city pulls out all the stops for its annual town festival.

#1502
Reporter Jason Shoultz examines how consumer demands are changing production techniques on farms and ranches across the country. A California poultry producer makes changes to impact animal welfare. An Idaho produce company lets consumers track their produce right back to the field. Wheat farmers find support from bakers in Kansas City and a San Francisco airline kitchen meets dining demands with the help of California produce farmers.

#1503
Rob Stewart takes you coast to coast to meet some farm and ranch families with some special talents when it comes to being creative. A Tennessee craftsman builds historic dulcimers that harken back to America’s past. A Wisconsin dairy farmer does double duty as a woodcarver. A Wyoming woman uses sheep’s wool for one of a kind art projects and a Kansas farm family creates a country attraction that teaches young folks about agriculture.

#1504
Rob Stewart says dairy foods are an important part of the daily diets for many people: milk in their morning cereal, yogurt for lunch, even cheese and crackers as a party appetizer. Rob shows us how Idaho dairy farmers work to protect rivers and streams. Meet a Tennessee couple making award winning goat cheese. We’ll run down the steps in making Cottage Cheese in “Off the Shelf”, discover a flavorful dairy dish for your next party in “Farm to Fork” and go door to door for home delivery with a Minnesota milkman.

#1505
Head south for an H2O harvest of crawfish in Louisiana. Sample some exotic recipes made with Belgian endive. Join the search as “working dogs” look for dangerous plant pests and celebrate a special anniversary as an Ohio farm family marks two hundred years of working their land.

#1506
Bring in the colorful harvest on a Florida blueberry farm. Pass the salt and learn about the history of popcorn. Cook up some unique asparagus recipes with Sharon Profis and climb to new heights at a New Orleans rooftop farm.

#1507
A rural community celebrates its crops with “Art on a Silo”. A California vineyard combines grapes and olive oil for fine dining. The National Cornbread Festival delivers plenty to eat. Learn about the colorful history of carrots.

#1508
Reporter Akiba Howard helps haul in a harvest of potatoes in Colorado. An Idaho farm creates new potato varieties to meet consumer demand. An Arkansas family stakes their future on growing large sweet potatoes. Sharon Profis is in the kitchen with a unique potato recipe.

#1509
Reporter John Lobertini takes us to the rocky coast of Maine where lobster fishermen are facing new challenges as they harvest crustaceans from the Atlantic Ocean. Sarah Gardner discovers how Arkansas farmers are finding fish farming to be profitable hundreds of miles from the ocean. A special kind of oyster farming in Maryland’s is helping clean up pollution in Chesapeake Bay.

#1510
Reporter Yolanda Vazquez takes us to meet a New York family finding success in raising crops without soil. Rob Stewart travels to Louisiana where one grocery store has a produce garden on the roof of its building. It’s science and not soil for researchers in Arizona creating food and fuel from algae. Travel to the waters off the coast of Maine where fishermen haul in a harvest of seaweed.

#1511
Travel back in time to Kentucky land that’s been farmed by the same family for more than 200 years. Examine the science behind the effort to develop America’s best-looking lawns. Take your pick of some great apricot recipes, and join Louisiana trackers on the hunt for feral hogs destroying farmland.

#1512
Unravel the secrets behind new research that shows Washington State farmers how to grow more wheat with less water. Then, tempt your taste buds with apples in New Jersey and gain knowledge about turkeys you may not have previously had.

#1513
Learn lessons as you go back to class at a summer farm school in New England. Then, accompany Jason Shoultz to unravel a mystery of meat, and join California nuns in the tasty tradition of making olive oil.

#1514
Join America’s Heartland as we visit Midwestern farmers during the busy harvest season. We’ll see how they’re using the newest ag technology to improve yield and improve soil health and the environment. It’s all about a renewed commitment to sustainability.