CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Klodette and Rich Stroh, Powell, Wyoming
Klodette Stroh isn’t your typical Wyoming farm girl. Klodette is an Assyrian, born in Teheran, Iran, who came to the U.S. to attend college with the goal of becoming a physician and instead wound up falling in love with Wyoming farmer, Rick Stroh. The couple began farming together in 1989, first purchasing some equipment and leasing […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Jon Whatley, Odem, Texas
Many farmers in the United States have been wedded to the soil for several generations. Jon Whatley is no different. He is a fourth-generation farmer in San Patricio County, outside Odem, Texas, and has been tilling the land since 1993. Whatley plants mainly cotton, corn and sorghum in the coastal bend of Texas on more […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Mike Quinn, Garner, North Carolina
If there’s anything the droughts of 2011 and 2012 have taught American farmers, it’s the importance of being prepared for anything. That includes occasional years of dealing with dry conditions trying to grow the Carolinas’ homegrown cotton crop. J. Michael Quinn, the president and CEO of Carolinas Cotton Growers Cooperative, Inc., has witnessed how both […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Danny Davis, Elk City, Oklahoma
Late in the 19th century, the Great Western Cattle Trail used to run from Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. The route passed directly over a creek that eventually became the center of Elk City, Oklahoma. This is a region of dry land farms and ranches. Two years ago, it was the epicenter of the worst […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Andrew Bowman, Oneida, Illinois
Andrew Bowman is a fifth-generation farmer from Oneida, Illinois, in the western part of the state. Bowman, who is in the family business with his father, farms 1,100 acres of corn and soybeans, although they are also looking into new crops. “But corn and soybeans are definitely our bread and butter,” says Bowman. The drought […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Matt Huie, Beeville, Texas
Bee County in the coastal bend of Texas near the Gulf of Mexico was not spared the crippling drought which struck the state with the worst dry spell in almost a century in 2011 and continued for several years. Matt Huie works on 5,000 acres of row crops plus a cow-calf operation there, and the […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Tom March, Bethlehem, Connecticut
In 1915, Thomas and Rose Marchukaitis, two Lithuanian immigrants who had been in the country for only a few years, purchased a farm in Bethlehem, Connecticut, which consisted of 114 acres and supported 15 cows and two horses. There, they raised their nine children and worked hard for their American dream. Three generations later, their […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Russ Mauch, Mooreton, North Dakota
“If you’re not a risk taker with an incredibly optimistic view of life and a deep belief in your own potential as a businessman, then you better not think about wanting to become a farmer,” says Russ Mauch, past president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association and a sugarbeet farmer . Mauch is a second-generation […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Patrick Solon, Streator, Illinois
Patrick Solon’s 1,500 acre farm in north central Illinois will celebrate its 165th year in the Solon family on May 23, 2013. The farm, located about 85 miles southwest of Chicago, has been a source of livelihood for six generations of the Solon family, growing corn and soybeans on some of the best, blackest soil […]
CROP INSURANCE IN ACTION: Keith Miller, Great Bend, Kansas
Great Bend, Kansas, farmer Keith Miller looks at the big picture. Crop insurance, he declared, is not just an agricultural safety net for the farming community. It is an economic imperative. “I do feel that the general public doesn’t understand that 95 percent of all farmers are trying to do the right thing,” he said. […]
