Many farmers face some sort of financial distress because of a mixture of tight profit margins and uncooperative weather.

The early fog clings on a November morning in a valley below the Tuscan, Italy, town of Montalcino, soupy thick and draining what color remains from a landscape already deadened by autumn.

Pride for what they've built, ambition to keep it growing and awe at the absurdity of it all swirl together when members of the Welker family tell their story.

SAVORY GRILLED TURKEY BURGERS

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul. Alfred Austin

There were fewer middle-sized farms in 2017 than five years earlier, and the age of the average farm operator continues to tick upward, according to results of the 2017 Census of Agriculture.

Innovation and love of cattle run in the Esch family genes. It's a foundation on which they're building a nationwide branded-beef business: Oak Barn Beef. At the center is whirlwind Hannah Esch, a 21-year-old college junior with a contagious enthusiasm for the beef.