News & Notes 2

Season 3, Edition 2

I hope you had a chance to read our last newsletter outlining some of the exciting plans underway for the launch of Season 3 of America’s Heartland.

As we noted, we’re on target to complete our goal of visiting all 50 states to learn more about the unique crops, commodities, challenges and rewards that farmers and ranchers create and experience in each.

For example, our Pat McConahay is just back from New Jersey, where she was surprised to learn just how farmland still exists in that industrialized state. Of course, farmers in the Garden State, like so many others, still face challenges in maintaining their essential presence in the face of increasing urbanization. But one of the stories you’ll see in season 3 is Pat’s report on new efforts in New Jersey to preserve farm land for future generations.

Meantime, reporter Jason Shoultz just returned from Mississippi, where he was blessed with good weather and a bumper crop of excellent stories, including flying with an old-fashioned crop duster who still takes to the air to help farmers achieve a successful harvest. Jason also visited a huge catfish farm to see how that unique specialty crop is raised. And, he joins a specialized “ag crime unit” doing its best to help farmers prevent thieves from stealing their hard-won product.
The first episode of Season 3 is now complete and will start appearing on many PBS stations across America in September. Next newsletter, we’ll tell you more about what new stories to look for in the first few weeks of the new season. In the meantime, please click on our “Watch Heartland” link on our website to see where you can catch the program, or go to your own local PBS station website. You can also watch segments online at americasheartland.org
Thanks for watching!

Seth Alspaugh
Executive Producer
America’s Heartland

News & Notes 1

Season 3, Edition 1

Greetings!

As Executive Producer of America's Heartland, I'm pleased with this opportunity to bring you up to date on our coming new season.

While involved as the program's line producer through our first two seasons in 2005 and 2006, I was privileged to be part of the series' evolution into an informative, entertaining half-hour that celebrates American agriculture in its spectacular variety, and one that illuminates and honors the lives of America's farmers and ranchers.

In the 40 half-hour episodes produced throughout its first two seasons, America's Heartland reporters and crews brought in stories from more than 40 states. By the middle of our new third season, we will have completed our first "tour" of all 50 states. All across the U.S, we've discovered unforgettable people and places in the world of agriculture.

Back in 2005, we opened our first episode with the line "America's heartland is more than a place; it's a state of mind."

More than 200 stories later, it's still true. Providing food, fuel and fiber for America and the world is an act of passion on the part of our farmers and ranchers big or small, mainstream or specialized. In season three, you'll hear more from the food producers themselves and see a bit more about what motivates them and how they live their lives.

This season, you'll see a special show examine a busy springtime day in the lives of five members of a hard-working North Dakota ranch family in a remote corner of our least-populated state.

America's Heartland also has some thrills and entertainment in store this season: a sky-high view of an agriculture aviator's risky aerial ballet; a fascinating and slightly spooky tour inside Nevada's fabled Hoover Dam; a 3:00 a.m. boat ride on Chesapeake Bay pursuit of blue crabs; even a night with some hardcore Mississippi blues musicians in some classic deep south juke joints.

And there will be new features as well: commentary from some of our farmers and ranchers at their outspoken best; favorite farm pets and animals, curious roadside attractions throughout the Heartland, and some of the Heartland's most scenic farms and ranches.

For season 3, look for new faces among our on-camera contributors. Host Paul Ryan and reporters Pat McConahay and Jason Shoultz are still doing the lion's share of the "roadwork," but this year they'll be joined from time to time by fine reporters Yolanda Vazquez, Gabriela Hidalgo Zaragosa, and others.

Production for season three is in full swing and our first programs are "rolling out." Chances are they'll be showing up in the local listings for your PBS station come late August or early September. We hope you're there to "grow" along with the ride with us. Please check our website for frequent updates on our broadcast schedule, partner stations, and rich new web content.

Seth Alspaugh
Executive Producer
America's Heartland