Beating the Odds
Family rebuilds after Md. barn fire, grateful for community help
PYLESVILLE, Md. — It only took minutes for a fire to fully engulf Jim and Janet Archer’s shop and barn, wiping out more than a half century worth of tools, parts and memories. But the support for the dairy farm family from the community in Harford County and...
Farmer recommits to ag after tornado damage
MULLICA HILL, N.J. — Any other day of the week, Lenny Grasso would have been on the other side of the field near several buildings on his produce farm, and not at home. “But that day, something told me, ‘You know what? You did enough today. Button up the...
Va. dairy bounces back after bouts with wind, fire
WILSONS, Va. — No, locusts have not taken over Richlands Dairy Farm.But, unfortunately, the farm has been hit by fire and by wind damage — twice by wind damage — in the past five years. And back in 2004, a super cell wind storm also hit the farm.And yet, the...
In aftermath of father’s 2020 death, Va. grower takes over his family’s produce farm
SCOTTSBURG, Va. — For Trey Reese, the time had come, as he said, “to just doing it.”His father, Julius Hudson “Jay” Reese Jr., died suddenly in February 2020 at age 56.“He felt bad one day,” Trey said. “He spent 10 days in the hospital and then came home....
N.J. farmer rallies to rise out of debt after tragedy
HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. — Roy Hildebrant died in August 2012 after a battle with melanoma at the age of 49.He left behind his wife, Michele, their six children, and a lien on Hackettstown, New Jersey’s Iona Hill Farm.“There was a lien on the property due to my...
Police officer injured in brutal hit-and-run returns to agriculture
DUBLIN, Va. — It was bitterly cold and snowy Jan. 6, 2013 when Senior Trooper John Jones marked on duty at 5:30 a.m. He was starting his day shift with the Virginia State Police. Within the hour Jones was lying unconscious on a country road, left for dead by...
Daughter helps farmer father with transplant
BRIDGEVILLE, Del. — This fall, Jeff Allen pulled his combine out of the shed and harvested corn with it for the first time in four years. “That was a great feeling, to be able to pick some corn,” he said.What started for Allen as a hiatus to take care of...
Pa. farm recovers after not one, but two disasters
WEST CHESTER, Pa. — “We should be dead,” Dana Pound says of the damage inflicted by an EF-2 tornado that struck their Newton Square, Pa., horse farm on Oct. 31, 2019. There had been no advance warning. But at about 11:50 p.m., as Dana was reading in the...
Club rallies around dog shot during farm hunt
PUNGO, Va. — It’s within the city limits of Virginia Beach, but there’s still plenty of farmland in Pungo, a small, rural community just a few miles south of the coastal city’s core. Much of the land surrounding those farms is wooded, providing a convenient...
After accident, Md. woman pursues farming
CORDOVA, Md. — Danielle Cannon may not have grown up on a farm, but it didn’t take her long to decide her future was in farming and raising animals. “I honestly have no idea what I would do if I wasn’t farming,” she said, looking out onto her 40-acre...
© American Farm Publications | Site designed by Diving Dog Creative