This Blessed Earth by Ted Genoways

c.2017, W.W. Norton

$26.95/$35.95 Canada

226 pages

You really have to play it safe. You can’t afford to lose, can’t handle anything but a safe bet, can’t see anything without a guarantee.

No big chances for you; risky behavior just isn’t something you like. You’re no gambler, no rebel or wild child. And in the new book This Blessed Earth by Ted Genoways, you’d find you’re obviously no farmer.

Kyle Galloway had a lot riding on the line. His girlfriend-almost-fiancé Meghan’s father, Rick, made no bones about being ready to pass the family farm to what would be its sixth generation of farmers.

Meghan had been preparing for it all her life and, because there’d been talk of marriage soon, Kyle was working toward that goal, too. So when Rick gave Kyle the task of figuring out a crucial task for planting, Kyle understood the seriousness of the responsibility.

Through the decades, the farm had been through many changes. It was inherited, sold, re-purchased and redrawn; it had seen bad weather, plagues, drought, cattle rustlers and family feuds.

Now Kyle, Meghan and Meghan’s brothers would farm their mother’s portion of it with computers, GPS, genetics, chemicals and the understanding that consumers didn’t want the latter near their food.

It takes constant effort to make a living. Because crops are commodities, prices are never guaranteed. Moisture in the ground means different things for soybeans and for corn; they mean different things for different kinds of soybeans and corn, in fact, and knowing when to plant is guesswork as much as knowledge.

The same goes for knowing when to take crops to market and when to hold off. Figure wrong, and financial disaster mightn’t be far away.

Atlantic City gamblers, in other words, have nothing on Rick and his Nebraska neighbors. There are years when Las Vegas gamblers wouldn’t touch the odds that America’s farmers face. And yet, said Meghan, “We’re still here, still going ...”

Where did your breakfast come from this morning? If you know, then you’re likely not going to be surprised by what’s inside This Blessed Earth. If you’ve no idea where breakfast was grown, though, be prepared to have your eyes opened wide.

What you’ll see doesn’t always have a Happily Ever After, though author Ted Genoways, great-grandson of a Nebraska farmer, offers appealing glimpses of good here. Readers can almost feel sun-warmed dirt and smell corn growing; they can imagine sunsets seen from a tractor cab and blissful quiet through Genoways’ words.

But then he shows the flip side: markets gone bad, failing crops, late harvests, bank loans due and weather gone wrong, not to mention environmental concerns and what happens when farm meets government meets Big Business. Though Genoways’ subjects indicate that they can’t imagine life any other way, that kind of ending will leave readers with a sobering narrative and a forlorn feeling.

If you farm, you live this story and you’ll want to read it, too. If you don’t farm but you’re concerned about agriculture, the environment or what’s on your plate, This Blessed Earth is still a good bet.

Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 14,000 books. Readers with questions or comments may write to Terri in care of this publication.