The way of the land 

By Joey Renn 

Senior, Arrowhead High School Hartland, Wisconsin

With lines from In Ukraine, Grain Shortages Reverberate Beyond Borders | Pulitzer Center by Kern Hendricks, a Pulitzer Center Reporting Project.

The land: if you think about it, it is the root of everything you do.

The land: how I run my business. I'm a farmer. If I didn't have 

The land: I wouldn't have a job but lately, it has come to my attention that we are losing our land around here. My family has been farming the same 1,100-plus acres around here for over eight decades. Around here it’s getting harder and harder to farm.

On our farm, I grow wheat, hay, corn, and soybeans: we also raise beef cows and dairy cows. On our farm, I have over 200 cows: every cow needs about one acre of land.

On our farm, I have the fourth graders walk from lake country to our farm: to learn about it.

On our farm, I have grown over 3.3 million tons of grain. 

Without my farm, I wouldn’t have a job along with 10 other people.

Without my farm, I would have to change my life.

Without my farm, I wouldn’t be able to complete my dreams.

Without my farm, I wouldn’t be able to teach the fourth graders where their food comes from.