INTERVIEW: ‘American Farm’ gives intimate look at trials, triumphs of American farmers

Photo: John Boyd, of Boyd Farms in Baskerville, Virginia, is one of the farmers featured on the new docuseries The American Farm. Photo courtesy of History / Provided by High 10 Media with permission.

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The American Farm, a new docuseries on the History channel, follows hard-working American farmers for an entire year, documenting their many challenges in the agricultural business and their hard-fought triumphs. The series premieres Thursday, April 4 at 10 p.m. and continues for eight parts.

One of the farmers at the center of the series is John Boyd of Baskerville, Virginia, who herds cattle, grows soybeans and serves as president of the National Black Farmers Association. For Boyd, much like many farmers, agriculture runs in the family. He learned the trade from his father and grandfather, and a major storyline on season one of The American Farm is whether Boyd’s sons will take over the family business one day.

“I’m hoping that the show will attract a lot of people that don’t necessarily know a lot about farming and agriculture and get them interested to know more about farming,” Boyd said in a recent phone interview. “Most everybody goes to the grocery story, but very few people really have visited a farm, or had any interaction with the farm, and how the food is grown and produced, and the work that goes into it. It’s a lot of work that goes into producing a particular commodity or livestock.”

On Boyd’s Virginia farm, the team grows corn, wheat and soybeans on four different tracts of land. They are also in the business of raising hay to feed the beef cattle. Boyd said his present-day practices are diversified and align with market trends.

“During the winter months, we work on the equipment and getting the equipment and everything ready,” he said. “In the spring, we have to be ready to put the work in, so now we’re getting ready to plant soybeans. We’re trying our hand at hemp this year. We’ve never planted any hemp, so we’re going to try our hand at that.”

Soybeans are a hot commodity in the United States. Many restaurants use it as filler, and, of course, there is the cooking oil and soy milk businesses that need the beans as well.

When Boyd is out in the field, working long hours on his tractor with his family and team by his side, he recognizes the issues and problems he and others are facing in this industry.

“I would say farming is the hardest occupation,” he said. “And the challenges that I face on my own personal farm, I can almost promise that every farmer is faced with that. The next generation of farmers, where are they going to come from? Which child or relative is going to step up and say, ‘Hey, I actually want to do this’? Because it’s hard work. It’s challenging. We’re facing issues now with the commodity prices. There’s an ongoing issue with access to credit. You’re going to see all things kind of play out during the show as well.”

Good farmers probably had a mentor or two who taught them how to work the land, how to grow crops and how to raise cattle. For Boyd, those people were his father and grandfather.

“My father and grandfather taught me how to farm, so I had two of the best mentors,” he said. “I had great mentors that really showed me and took a lot of time to work with me. I was really glad that I had some mentors like that that were willing to work me and take the time to show me what to do and what not to do. I thought that was really good.”

Now he puts those lessons to work every single day on his farm, and those days are long ones. He frequently welcomes the sun before it rises and says goodbye to a work session by bidding farewell to that same sun later in the day.

“These are very long days, especially during planting season like we’re heading into,” he said. “I’m generally up every morning at 5:30 drinking coffee, and then I feed up, feed my animals. And then I start my day on what we’re working on, and that can go way into the afternoon during planting time, right up until dark if we’re planting. That’s right around the corner for us.”

It appears that the farming life has been a rewarding, albeit difficult, one for Boyd and his family.

“I actually get to spend time with my family,” he said of the greatest perk of the job. “If I was working 9 to 5, I would be somewhere else. … And being out when the sun is coming up and the sun is going down, no matter how hot or cold, it’s still rewarding.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

The American Farm premieres Thursday, April 4 at 10 p.m. on History. Click here for more information.