Everyday I watch this man pull out of our driveway. Everyday I worry what the day might hold. I worry that the wind blew too hard during the night. I worry the storm we got the evening before rained where we didn't need it and left the other parched fields starving for a drink. I worry today will be a good day and then the next three will be terrible. I worry he feels more defeat than he does triumph...
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What would it require for you to make a 180 degree turn against something you previously believed to be true? I'm talking about the kind of shift that rocks your world, the realization requires a significant lifestyle change, the kind of change that
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Hello again. My name is Tonetta Simone Gladwin and last year at this time I wrote an article about how the California drought directly affected my ability to do business as Passion Fruit Farms. I told my story and expressed my passion for
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Fair time is fun time. That’s what we are told, and when it’s our first year, we believe it. We look forward to it like none other. All we have to do is raise an animal? A pig? A lamb? And then we sell it? Sounds simple, right? I mean, it’s just some animal… Right? But after your first year...
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Let me tell you some of the ways I love what I do. I am a fourth generation dairy farmer. I grew up working with my Dad, learning many life lessons from him. I moved across the road after I was married. See, when you farm you stay close to farm and family. We raised six kids, three boys and three girls...
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My name is Aubrey Fletcher, I am 23 years-old. I grew up on a 300-cow dairy operation in Miller, MO. As a youth I was involved in 4-H and FFA showing and judging dairy cattle. My passion for agriculture and the dairy industry...
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My name is Scott Wilson, I am 25 years old, married to a wonderful woman with 2 beautiful children ages 2 and the other 1 month old. I was born and raised in Southwest Missouri on a small dairy where the family...
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A visit to Sunmaid grocery, located north of Sanger, California at the corner of Academy and McKinley, is a step back in time. It’s a visit to the 1950’s when grocery stores were owned and operated by your neighbor and not a conglomerate. Those stores featured a butcher who would take the time to tell you a story while he
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People go out of business every day. It could be due to inexperience, mismanagement, or economic factors, but they close their doors and quit. My reasons for quitting are a little different and if you have a few minutes, I’d like to tell you my story. My name is Tonetta Simone Gladwin and I am the third and final generation
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I know I’m fortunate to find my passion early in life. I never knew I would feel this much for a career option. I see people every day fighting their jobs and complaining about what they chose to do when they were younger. I knew from the very beginning, I would never feel like that about my choice. I may
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