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

The United Soybean Board , America's soybean farmers and their checkoff.

Farm Credit , owned by America's farmers and ranchers.

Celebrating 95 years of service to U.S. agriculture and rural America!

Learn more at farmcredit.com.

And by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, dedicated to building greater awareness and understanding of agriculture through education and engagement.

>>I'm Rob Stewart.

And this time on America's Heartland, we're taking you all across the country to meet some people whose work in agriculture impacts all our lives.

We'll introduce you to a man whose research initiated a green revolution fighting hunger in 3rd world nations.

See how one New England community rallied behind a young man to protect valuable farmland.

We'll meet pilots and health professionals in Oklahoma saving lives in rural areas.

And we'll take you to Nebraska where working the land demands some help from man's best friend.

It's all coming up on this special edition of America's Heartland.

♪ 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.

♪ >>We've got some interesting people to introduce you to on this special edition of America's Heartland.

We're taking a look at people working together to make a difference.

You know, making a living or even planning a career in agriculture isn't always easy.

There are challenges including weather, crops, and getting your goods to market.

Overcoming challenges is important to the 1st two young men you're about to meet, young men whose life choices are all about the future.

>>Fourteen year old Cramer Schneider is hoping to take home a blue ribbon from this Pennsylvania junior cattle show.

Cramer's entry has to look good and so does Cramer.

But this young man is up to the task.

He's a teenager who knows how to tackle challenges.

When Cramer was just an infant, his parents noticed he had a wandering eye.

Doctors would soon determine that Cramer had retinal cancer in both eyes.

After 2-1/2 years of experimental treatments and chemotherapy, both of Cramer's eyes needed to be removed.

>>The first night that he left the hospital from having his eyes removed, (and he was totally blind) we were staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia.

And they had a playroom with a climbing structure in it and all these little cars that could ride around.

And we thought well, what are we going to do with him now?

He can't see where he's going or what's happening.

And we didn't really know how we were going to keep him entertained.

He took off and was climbing that structure and sliding like nothing had ever happened!

And so that started us off on a really good note.

>>When Cramer was 6 years old, the Schneider's bought a heifer for each of their children to raise and show in competition.

Raising livestock in Georgetown, Kentucky, Cramer and his sister Allie Jo show cattle across the country picking up awards.

>>This is a lot of work.

What is it about this that you like so much?

>>Well, I enjoy both aspects of it: being at the show, showing them, and taking care of them.

I also enjoy feeding her and all of that kind of stuff.

And you know, that shows in the show ring: that you've spent time with them every day and that they're familiar with you, and you're familiar with them.

And if you spend that time with them, they'll work better with you in the show.

>>When it comes to facing the challenges that come with blindness, Cramer's positive attitude has rubbed off on the entire family.

>>Ever since Cramer was diagnosed, he's never once complained about being blind or not being able to see.

He accepted it from day 1 and moved forward.

We don't hold him back.

We encourage him to do whatever he wants to do.

I mean, he has no reason not to be positive.

>>At home you'll find Cramer practicing his golf swing with his grandfather or practicing the piano.

In a hallway not far from the piano hangs a sign that explains where Cramer draws his strength.

Anyone who has ever worked with livestock knows it can be tricky, and animals can be unpredictable.

By making small adjustments, he's able to take on tasks.

When walking his heifer, Cramer's dad is right along side.

>>He tells me when we're going to turn, how sharp, which way.... ....because we want to be staying a decent distance away from the animal so that the judge can see the animal and not the exhibitor.

>>Cramer's prize wall is a testament to his hard work: sparking an interest in a future in agriculture.

>>I'm real comfortable with the cattle industry, and it is so interesting to see where the cattle industry goes.

And maybe combining my computer skills with my knowledge and love of agriculture?

I think that would be a great job someday!

♪ ♪ >>Looking to the future is also important to Andrew Orr.

Yolanda Vazquez takes us to Massachusetts and a young farmer just starting out.

>>At a time when most 19 year olds are finishing their 1st year in college?

Andrew is hard at work on his farm planting seeds and harrowing soil for this season's crop.

>>I do as much as I can by myself.

>>With his can do attitude, Andrew has become the poster child for the future of farming in Westport, Massachusetts.

>>This is my fun.

This is what I like doing.

I'm having fun every day when I'm down here.

>>This New England town, nestled along the Atlantic coast, has seen its fair share of lost farmland in the past 30 years.

Farmer Jim Wood was offered more than a million dollars for 13-acres of land his family had owned for more than a century.

>>One day me and my wife sat down, really; want to sell it for house lots!

>>Anthony Cucchi is a land protection specialist with the Trustees of Reservations.

His organization (along with the help of state, local and private donors) drummed up a 1 million dollar offer to buy the land from Wood.

>>We were able to cobble together a deal that almost compared with what some developers were willing to pay.

And Jim was willing to go with it at the end of the day.

>>The benefit to Westport?

The land was restricted for agricultural use only!

And local farmers were asked to submit proposals.

The long-time farmer thought his protege' was the perfect candidate.

>>He was always interested in not just doing the work but the whole business of it.

>>So when it came to choosing who would get the farm?

Andrew got the nod!

>>He really represents the future of agriculture.

We feel strongly.... ....want to use this property and this project in a way that's going to perpetuate agriculture.

News of Westport's youngest farmer quickly spread, first through local newspapers; then a featured spot on local TV.

>>They followed me around harvesting stuff.

They stayed out of my hair so I didn't mind!

>>Andrew's celebrity status hasn't cut him any breaks.

He still works a 12 hour day picking stones, planting seeds, and prepping soil most of the time all by himself!

Jim Wood has become Andrew's mentor in this new life direction.

That helps keep him going.

He's got a lot of experience, let me use some of it....

He helped me out a lot!

>>Andrew's work ethic is a bit unusual for a 19 year old.

It's what many believe will make him a successful farmer.

>>You should be hanging with your friends, playing video games!

>>If they want to hang out, they have to come here.

>>Life lessons for a teenager who passed up college in the hopes of carving out a future as a farmer and reassuring the town of Westport and the local farming community that the investment they've made is worth it!

>>We couldn't mention those whose work in agriculture impacts all of us without mentioning the late Dr. Norman Borlaug.

We traveled to Iowa to meet with him before his death.

And Jason Shoultz explains how his work dramatically changed agriculture and saved lives around the world.

>>The peacefulness on the rolling farmland of Northeastern Iowa doesn't get interrupted much.

The wind whistling through the weeds and today, the sound of busloads of visitors!

This is the boyhood home of Dr. Norman Borlaug.

>>For me, it's a privilege to be here.

>>This is the place where Borlaug learned the fundamentals of how farming can change the nation and the world.

As a young man, the impact of the Great Depression on farmers shaped his beliefs on farming and the food supply.

>>So some of the best farmers?

I saw them ruined!

And then the situation got worse: people with their hands out, not ten or a hundred or a thousand but untold thousands, asking for a nickel to buy bread.

>>After earning his PhD in plant pathology, Dr. Borlaug began doing agricultural research in Mexico in the 1940's.

Farmer's there had been facing serious problems with disease.

>>They said, "We got problems.

Come with us.

We want to take you to the old parts of Mexico!"

>>Borlaug developed wheat plants that were resistant to disease and introduced new methods that eventually turned Mexico into a wheat exporter.

But population around the globe was exploding, and farming practices weren't keeping up.

Borlaug spent the 1960's developing high-yield wheat plants in India and Pakistan.

That's where he met Leon Hesser, working for the U.S. government.

>>With his (Norman Borlaug's technology) we doubled our wheat production in Pakistan in 4 years.

>>Borlaug is credited with saving more than a billion people around the globe with new agriculture technologies.

He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his efforts.

And he's been called the father of the Green Revolution that improved farming methods worldwide.

>>Where there is human misery based on hunger and lack of medical care and lack of education which affects population growth, there's bound to be social and political chaos.

>>He's much better known in India, Pakistan, Mexico, and many other countries than he is in the United States.

>>Dr.

Norman Borlaug's legacy doesn't just carry on in the agricultural fields of developing nations.

Every year, scientists from around the globe converge on a chilly Des Moines, Iowa to attend the World Food Prize created by Dr. Borlaug.

>>Considered by many to be the Nobel Prize of agricultural research, the award is given out each year to improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

Besides the annual awards ceremony, a symposium gathers world leaders in food production research.

>>The general public (in the affluent nations) don't have much idea of the conditions, in the food-short developing nations.

>>I think the values that he used to talk about?

This little 168 acre farm?

I think he realized that someday there will be a shortage of land and even water.

>>He's had a tremendous impact on the world food situation and more than any other person in history.

>>Not bad for a farm boy from Iowa!

♪ ♪ >>Working together to get a crop into the ground or to harvest is one way that folks in rural communities pull together.

And cooperation is especially critical when emergencies crop up far from hospitals or urban trauma centers.

Our Akiba Howard traveled to Oklahoma to learn more about rural rescues by air!

>>Reaching seriously injured people in many parts of the heartland is a race against time.

This Air EVAC Lifeteam in Oklahoma operates in one of the medically under served areas of rural America.

The service began in West Plains, Missouri in 1985 and now serves 90 air medical bases across 14 states.

>>We have at each location (probably on average) 4 nurses, 4 paramedics, 4 pilots.... And then each time the crew responds, there is the 3 member team (the nurse, the pilot, and the paramedic) that go on each flight.

>>We've got good, clear weather.

So the weather's not going to be any effect for the rest of the day for any of our flights!

>>Former Oklahoma Highway Patrol Pilot Steve Kirby has 17 years flying experience.

>>If they had to put someone into an ambulance, a ground ambulance from where we're at in most of our regions?

It could take them up to an hour or longer to get to a hospital with a patient.

They're going around curvy roads, heavy congested traffic areas.... We can put them in a helicopter and be in Tulsa from here in 18 minutes!

>>We're kind of like the back up team or swat team for the EMS folks.

They get on scene with ambulance, start initial treating, and taking care of patients.

And we come in when they think they're overwhelmed, or they have a really bad patient.

And we take over from there.

>>The time element on that race to save a life was critical for Robert Hill when his field work took a terrible turn.

>>I was in a hurry, trying to finish up a little patch before it got too dark.

Sun had already gone down, and I'm not sure how I hit that hole.

And the tractor's right front wheel just fell off in it and stopped.

And I went over the right side.

And the mower ran over me some way.

>>Badly injured, he tried to walk back to the house.

>>It run over my back and apparently spun on my shoulder blade.

Messed it up pretty good!

Just basically skinned me from the back.

One of the men in the helicopter said he could see my shoulder bone, see my ribs, and see several of my organs.

>>Robert's wife Faye phoned for help.

A ground rescue crew was the first to arrive.

>>Farm accident-wise, he is the worst I have ever seen in all the years I've been doing this.

>>They knew Robert Hill might not survive a 2 hour ride to a trauma center in Tulsa.

So they called for help.

>>Air EVAC 8-3?

We have a scene flight request!

Farming accident, trauma!

>>Once airborne, the crew can take a direct path to the accident or incident site.

>>Mr.

Hill was in pretty rough shape, and we went ahead and launched, flew out, landed in his pasture, went about 300 or 400 yards up to his house where we started treating him and got him ready to transport and take him to the trauma center.

>>In practice sessions or simulations like this?

The crew determines the best way to ready the patient for transport.

>>When I first looked at him, my thought was he'll never make it to the hospital!

>>We got him to the hospital and went into surgery.

That was really the last we heard of him.

And we recently heard that he was doing well and back to farming which was very rewarding to know we saved his life, had a part in saving his life.

>>Well, they're just an important part of the community.

They can get wherever they need to be pretty quick and get you to where you need to be real quick.

Life savers!

>>A life threatening accident also figures in our next story.

A young farmer in Nebraska discovers that working together with a special organization not only improved his life but gave him a chance to continue the work he loves.

>>These green, rolling hills of Nebraska are covered with corn, soybeans and alfalfa, crops that are close to the heart of 3rd generation farmer, Eric Beckman.

Past and future generations are part of Eric's deep drive to work the thousands of acres he farms.

And behind these eyes burns a deep rooted connection to the land.

For Eric and his wife Dana, farming is much more than a labor of love.

>>Farming to me is my passion.

I have nothing.

I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't farm.

>>But Eric almost lost farming in 2007 after breaking his neck in a car crash.

You see Eric is a quadriplegic, paralyzed from his chest down.

It was a devastating blow.

>>I remember how hard it was to go out to the field and know he wasn't going to be there, or I didn't get to see him.

And that's just how.... ....that's just how you define Eric.... ....was by farming.

>>But Eric rose to the occasion, refusing to give up on farming!

That's when a national program called AgrAbility stepped in, pooling resources and financial assistance to get Eric back to the land.

>>Ready to go up?

>>Eric's determination and Agribility's efforts resulted in this high-tech robotic lift getting Eric from his pickup to his tractor.

>>Okay, I'm going to start the tractor for you here.!

>>Because Eric can move his shoulders, he's able to control the custom-built tractor, putting him back in the field.

>>For me?

To get back out in the field on the farm was my dream and my goal.

And that's what I achieved!

And there's still more goals to be done.

And I hope in the future that with technology and medical help?

I'll be able to do that.

>>The 1st day that he got into his combine was about the 1st day of soybean harvest.

There were whoops and hollers and screams and tears!

And it was a tremendous day and a tremendous feeling for everyone.

>>Eric hopes his children will be the next generation of Beckman's to farm this Nebraska land.

Working alongside his Dad, Eric is once again able to connect to a way of life he almost lost.

>>I can't imagine how free you feel.

>>Oh, you do!

When you're farming, you're out here.

You know, alone?

And you can think a lot, and it's just peaceful.

It's just like in your own world.

Nobody bothers you.

And no....

It's just a great way of life!

>>You feel like you got your life back?

>>Yeah, somewhat.

Most part, yes!

>>Eric hopes his experience can prove to others that a disability needn't keep you from living your dream.

And he's glad to be farming once again.

>>It's absolutely wonderful!

I can't do all the hands-on things like I was able to do before.

But at least now?

I can get back in the field and participate again and work the land and watch the crops grow and mature.

And it's what every farmer loves to do.

♪ ♪ >>All of us need a little help from our friends, sometimes to get by.

And sometimes, they can be the 4-legged type.

Dogs make great pets!

But for some people?

They make great partners when it comes to working the land!

♪ ♪ >>They're hopping.... ....huffing.... ....and herding!

>>Lie down, LIE DOWN!

I'm John Holman.

And I'm a Nebraska Stock Dog Trainer!

>>Welcome to Clay Center, Nebraska where John Holman runs Dog4Ewe border collie training.

Here he's training dogs to herd sheep and cattle.

>>Walk up!

Good boy!

Way to me!

Bringing my sheep in!

>>What were those commands, and what do they mean?

>>Alright, I send him out to the right first, or what we say, counterclockwise around the sheep.

That's an away to me!

>>Away to me.... >>Clockwise around the livestock is a go by!

>>Go by.... >>Take time means to slow down.

Walk up means to stop in the right direction.

Steady Mick.... >>All across the heartland, working dogs are used to move sheep, cattle and goats in that right direction.

Those skills come from training and a dog's natural instinct.

>>Okay Mick, walk up!

>>These collies are natural herders, and they're eager to please their owners.

But they must be taught to move the sheep instead of keeping them penned up.

>>He has total control of this livestock.

I tell him where I want them.

He puts them there.

If I really want to get specific?

I can tell him how to do it.

But most times, I don't have to.

>>That's why farmers and ranchers depend on stock dogs nationwide.

>>Low-stress livestock, work and handling?

The dogs take the sheep out to graze, or the cattle from one pasture to another.

You know, it all works into the stewardship of the land.

>>John Holman tells farmers that dogs moving sheep and cattle can save time and money on the range.

>>Absolutely!

In fact, if you're talking about mounted cowboys and stuff?

They'll take the place of 2 guys on horseback that know what they're doing.

They can go places that the horses can't get: under brush and into stuff where maybe the cattle just plow in to be obnoxious!

They can get in there and get a hold of the cow by the heel or by the nose and bring him out where he can get control of him again.

>>Pete, you ready to go?

C'mon, Pete!

>>Pete is a farm dog and just arrived to learn John's skills before returning to the ranch to help his owner's herd.

>>He's got some pretty good breeding!

I saw his registration papers, and so I'm kind of excited to see what he'll do.

>>John teaches Pete using his tone of voice and body language to direct where he wants Pete to send the sheep.

John can tell if the dog is ready.

>>I want him to know that I'm going to be in control of what we're doing.

I kind of control the pace of this whole thing.

And I'm gonna.... See?

He's eyeballing them already, dancing around a little, trying to balance on 'em!

That's all good signs.

He's got concentration, and we like that.

>>National and local awards for his prize dogs line John's home office.

And the dogs aren't the only ones enjoying the competition.

It is like a top of the world kind of feeling to know that you have a partner out there who's ready to go rain or shine or blizzards or heat or whatever.

He's right there, or she's right there, the instant you call them in the morning.

And they're with you all day long if you want them to be.

>>What great dogs!

And that's going to do it for us on this special edition of America's Heartland.

As we tell you every week, we thank you for traveling the country with us as we find interesting people and places.

Hey don't forget, there's much more on our website including video from all of our shows.

Just log onto AmericasHeartland.org or follow us 24/7 on some of your favorite sites as well.

We're see you next time right here on America's Heartland.

♪ 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.

♪ >>America's Heartland is made possible by.... Farm Credit , owned by America's farmers and ranchers.

Celebrating 95 years of service to U.S. agriculture and rural America.

Learn more at farmcredit.com.

The United Soybean Board , America's soybean farmers and their checkoff.

And by the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture dedicated to building greater awareness and understanding of agriculture through education and engagement.

♪ ♪