Farming is unlike any other profession. Raising crops and livestock takes perseverance, optimism and a thick skin to survive the ups and downs of fickle weather and commodity prices. But, no matter what the size of your farming operation or years of experience, one thing...

In the February issue of Progressive Farmer, we introduced the newest class of America's Best Young Farmers and Ranchers. Now, it's your turn. Join this fast-growing program by applying to be part of the class of 2020--our 10th-anniversary year.

Perspiration, prayer and perseverance. This is how farms are built. But, when you pass on a passion for soil health to your children so they can pay it forward to theirs, that's how legacies are born.

When you irrigate a farm over the Ogallala Aquifer, as the Makovicka family does, you are tapping a shrinking resource. The aquifer, which lies under 175,000 square miles across eight states of the Great Plains, has fallen about 16 feet on average in the last several...

On a sunny fall day with just a bit of a nip in the air, Andrew Reuschel is piloting the combine, swallowing 200-bushel-per-acre-plus corn on the family farm, near Golden, in western Illinois. In parts of the field, there are remnants of green foliage low to the ground between...

When Sara and Kevin Ross look out over their hilly southwest Iowa farm, they see more than just their conservation efforts at work. They also see land that's been in their families for more than 100 years, and that drives them to do what they can to preserve it for the...

As a teenager, Donavon Taves would spend hours thumbing through Popular Science magazines looking for new and interesting things to do, build or experience. Years later, the same curiosity was still strong when he heard about a different way of farming that had both...

Step into this field outside Herndon, Kentucky, and touch a bit of agricultural history. One year, it may be planted in soybeans, the next year in corn. One thing, though, is certain: It will always be no-tilled.

The Chappell brothers use a simple principle to guide their crop-management decisions: Healthy soil helps make a healthy farm. It starts by thinking small.

Brian Martin slides a spade into a patch of cereal rye planted in corn stubble. He pries out a chunk of dark soil topped by green leaves then crumbles a bit of the dirt between his fingers. New roots, old roots, mellow silt loam. He crumbles some more dirt and gives a...

Conserve soil, conserve water. Both go hand-in-hand on Steve Stevens' farm, near Tillar, Arkansas. A third-generation farmer on land that's 10 miles from the Mississippi River and 2 miles from the Arkansas River, Stevens has seen plenty of changes during his time here, and...

Robby Bevis didn't decide to chuck his farm-management plan and get closer to nature on a whim. It took some convincing by friends and finally a commitment to let plants and biology tell him how to manage the crop.