Hartman's

I swung out to the farm I shot at for 392, Hartman's Dairy in The Plains. I've been working on a story about the economy for my magazine writing class and I figured (rightfully so) that a farmer would be going through some tough times right now with grain prices, fuel prices, and most importantly milk prices.

Ron, his mother and father, and his son Abe were all working. They've been buying a lower-grade sawdust to save money and lately have been spending time filtering it through a homemade filter (read: fan housing and chicken wire.)

It was really good to see them- I haven't been out there for a few months. They're always happy to see me show up. Ron and I took a ride out through the pasture on his Gator to see a calf that was born at 6:30pm last night. Riding along, wind blowing in my face and all, it just felt really good. I can't really explain it, but there are a lot of good things happening.