Erin Brown captures the beauty in agriculture with a camera lens. She says she is honored to visit farms and ranches to document the everyday moments of rural life. Farmers have faith that she will capture the good and the challenging in a beautiful way. Erin is busy creating a stock photo librar...

Ryan Buckles is an ag lender who works with farmers while also raising show pigs and cattle. His entrepreneurial spirit leads him to think outside the box, and that has inspired him to open The Back 9, a new enterprise that allows golfers to improve their game using simulators.

Perry Johnson has been in the moving business since he was a kid helping with his family business. He has worked at Federal Warehouse for 20 years. Perry believes in working harder than the average employee and not giving up easily. He and his wife celebrated 25 years of marriage this year and ar...

Joel Barickman is a farmer who values small farmer strategies for staying competitive and growing his operation. Joel values honoring his family heritage and farm history and believes in the importance of networking with people who want to try new ideas and diversify their farm.

Peoria businessman and Texas rancher Lee Graves cut his teeth as a lawyer representing the government during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. His family owned farmland and a duck hunting club in Illinois. Lee has now dipped his toe into cattle ranching deep in the heart of Texas.

Joe Zumwalt farms along the river and levy system around Warsaw, Illinois. Almost every acre of their land has been in the family for 84 years and they have a rich history of giving back. He tells stories of how his great uncle James McMurry bought land during the Depression, then allowed farmers...

Allen Dale, an ag sector pioneer and innovator who started his own composting business, chats with Rob about farming over the years and being a leader in agriculture within the Farm Bureau. Allen believes in traveling to other farms around the world and bringing back ideas to improve and diversif...

Farmer Larry Schaer talks about life on his produce farm in Spring Bay IL. His family runs a “U-Pick” strawberry patch and Schaer’s Farm Market. Like many other farmers Larry had an off the farm job working in Human Resources. He teamed up with United Stroke Alliance to create Retreat and Refresh...

Roberta English, CEO of Wildlife Prairie, and her barn owl friend drop by the studio to talk about what the park has to offer. This 1,800-acre park is also a working farm growing hay to feed the elk and bison residing there. The park works with the IDNR to allow youth hunts on an area of the prop...

Luke Harvey is a local beekeeper (apiarist) who loves to get others involved and excited about raising happy, healthy bees and harvesting honey. He shares the importance of having a mentor and getting involved in local clubs. Bees aren’t scary, they have very specific jobs and are important to a ...

Sharon Gramm has worked for years to attract local people down to the Peoria RiverFront Farmers’ Market to enjoy fresh produce and products from local farmers, artists and food vendors. She sees it as a fantastic way to connect consumers to where their food comes from and how it’s produced.

Kirk Liefer and his family have farmed in Red Bud Illinois for generations and have never been afraid to diversify their farm. Opening the Lieferbrau Brewery has required dedication and skills from many family members as they worked together to perfect their brew, draw a crowd that will keep comi...

Tony Reed, from Strasburg, Illinois, has worked hard to achieve what many say is impossible: becoming a first generation farmer. His journey included working on a custom harvest wheat crew and later as a hired man. Tony is now farming for himself and tells it like he sees it on social media.

Dr. Kimberly Stevens, a veterinarian from Galva, Illinois, owns her own clinic in the town where she grew up. She shares the challenges of getting accepted to vet school, graduating and the mentor who taught her so much. She also sheds light on “compassion fatigue” among veterinarians and talks a...

Eric Hodel is a farmer from Woodford County and the COO/CFO of Midwest Food Bank, a nonprofit organization with 12 locations in the U.S. and other countries. MFB distributes food and shares the love of Christ with programs like Hope Packs for hungry students to take home on the weekends and disas...

Becky Nielsen Hanks decided to return to agriculture as a career. She and her husband farm and she works with her dad and brother on the family farm. Like many in ag, she has diversified their operation by selling seed and becoming a certified crop adjustor.

Julie Hardy was a city girl whose expertise was in marketing. When she married a Christmas tree farmer and flew reindeer from Alaska to their farm in Illinois, they soon became a tourist destination. Now they’re teaching others to appreciate this wonderful animal with “up close and personal” tour...

Greg Steele, a farmer from Dover, Illinois, and a Vietnam veteran, looks back on his career in agriculture. Serving our country’s interests overseas and surviving combat trickled over into volunteering with agriculture groups like Farm Bureau and Pork Producers. Farmers make tough business decisi...

Rock Katschnig, a grain farmer around Prophetstown, Illinois, began farming at a very early age when a death in the family determined his future. This year marks Rock’s 45th crop and 42nd wedding anniversary. With those numbers comes great friendships, networking, memories, life lessons and wisdom.

Roy Sorce, owner of Sorce Freshwater Co., has been in the food distribution business for years. He works with local commercial fishermen to harvest invasive Asian carp from the Illinois River. Roy is processing, packaging and distributing this healthy white fish and providing jobs in the communit...

Jake Fidler, cattle farmer and third generation owner (with his wife) of the Fairview Sale Barn, lives a life committed to making a difference in the cattle industry. Jake talks about growing up in the family business, being mentored by the best and improving on his family legacy with the wisdom ...