Sacramento, California
September 7, 2006
America’s Heartland,
the public television series that celebrates the miracle of
American agriculture, is back for a second season, and the
show’s producers plan to make the show better than ever.
America’s Heartland, a collective effort among
Monsanto, the
American Farm Bureau (AFBF)and
other leading farm organizations, tells the stories of
innovative farm and ranch families across the nation.
The program is a magazine-style, half-hour series produced by
KVIE television in Sacramento,
California. Just as it did during its premiere season, America’s
Heartland begins its second season with a slate of all-new
stories captured from locations throughout the nation.
“We were pleased with the first-season success of America’s
Heartland,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “The audience
response was fantastic, both from farmers and ranchers and, more
importantly, the non-farm public. We are looking forward to the
second season and are anticipating that even more stations will
be airing this important show.”
America’s Heartland’s audience in the show’s inaugural season
exceeded 50 percent of the nation’s households. During the first
year, 20 episodes were produced, containing 99 stories gathered
from more than 20 states.
“America's Heartland is a special project, particularly for all
of us involved in agriculture,” said Ernesto Fajardo, Monsanto’s
vice president of U.S. Crop Production. “It is rewarding to see
farmers and ranchers being saluted for the hard work they do for
everyone else. The response and interest by the general public
to the show pleases us very much as we head into season two."
Executive producer Mike Sanford said one emphasis of season two
is to showcase how traditional producers of America’s commodity
crops—like wheat, corn, soybeans and rice—undertake the major
tasks of planting, nurturing and harvesting their crops in ways
that economically sustain their families and the natural
resources on which they rely. He said the show also will honor
the small farmer seeking new and innovative ways to survive and
succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
“Among the strengths of the first season, we feel, was both the
quality of the storytelling and the great variety of subjects,”
Sanford said. “We’re so gratified by the positive response
generated in the first season. The heartland has so many
compelling stories, and we’re incredibly excited about bringing
those stories to our viewers for another season.”
Another enhancement is the show’s increased presence on the
Internet, making it available to an even wider audience. The
public can now view all 20 episodes of season one and the first
five episodes of season two at
www.americasheartland.org. Future episodes will be added to
the site as they are produced. The first several episodes of
season two also have been fed to public television stations, and
they have already aired in some markets, according to Sanford.
Viewers can check with their local PBS affiliate to see when the
show is airing. While some stations have started airing the
second season, others are now repeating the first season, while
still others are showing season one for the first time.
In all, America’s Heartland can now be viewed (in analog,
digital, or both formats) in 84 percent of the nation’s
television households. In addition, RFD-TV, the rural-interest
satellite channel that aired season one, will start showing the
second season in late September or early October.
The series’ flagship supporters for the second season continue
to be Monsanto and AFBF. America’s Heartland supporting
contributors include the American Soybean Association, National
Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National
Association of Wheat Growers, United Soybean Board and U.S.
Grains Council. |