AgriTalk: The Root Years Podcast

The real world for tobacco growers in 1999 as they feared their most valuable crop was gone with minimal compensation. I followed up with Graham Boyd, Executive Director of the NC Tobacco Growers Assn. Here is the link to that podcast recorded in March of 2023 https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-uzvmc-13ad0fe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

This show from 1999 is relevant to today but has the recent memory of the farm recession in it. Dr. Val handles callers well and give some timeless advice on how men and women can pull together in crisis to accomplish great things. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

Our Third Show, so we were still learning how to expedite a program. Jeff Feeney, Administrator of Halstead Hospital and Hertzler Clinic in Kansas. Dr Norvin Parr, also of Halstead Hospital and Hertzler Clinic. Todd Linden, administrator of Grinnell Medical Center (formerly in Greene County, Iowa) Virginia Ramsdell, 91 year old resident of Nursing Home in South Dakota. Several excellent callers. Mike Hergert from KKXL radio in Grand Forks, North Dakota talking NAFTA. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

On Friday's, AgriTalk turned to its listeners to give their opinions of the shows from earlier in the week or to expound on topics that were on their minds. This is a classic example of the colorful people of Rural America and their vies on farming, railroads, commodity trading and several other issues. It is surprisingly relevant to today even though recorded in 1998. Enjoy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

This show was and example of Dr. Farmer's ability to talk through the challenges of a person in Rural America becoming divorced or widowed.  What do you do to find companionship and possibly a mate?   Ken added color and controversy.  The callers were great. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

Dr. Val Farmer was a well known clinical psychologist who specialized in Rural Family issues and also wrote a weekly column that ran in many newspapers across farm country in the Midwest and Plains.He was a weekly guest on AgriTalk for the seven years that Root hosted the show.   Issues were very personal and callers were uninhibited.  Root spoke with Dr. Farmer in this half hour conversation that catches up with the man and his adventurous life since the 1990's. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

When I spoke to them in 1995, Chris had just graduated and Angie was a year from her degree.  Both were confident they could make it in farming, as women and in an industry that had been shrinking in the number of farmers since the Great Depression of the 1930's.  Their common sense and passion came through in the AgriTalk show as Ken Root interviewed them and callers generally encouraged their entry into agriculture as a career. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com

Chris Buck-Parker is a full time farmer.  She raises cattle, wheat and alfalfa hay.  She has two teenage boys and her husband is the manager of the local farm cooperative.  Sister Angie is also farming in Alfalfa County and their younger sister, Jamie, lives in a county to the west and joins them in their agricultural pursuits.  Chris spoke with Ken Root in November of 2022 about her life as a wife, mother, sister and daughter on the dry lands of Western Oklahoma. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kennetheroot.substack.com