VIRDEN, Ill. – Cindy Ladage, Farm World columnist and freelance writer, has released a new book, “True Farm Girl Adventures,” a compilation of Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl’s blog posts, including adventures along the way.

The book details years of humorous and heartwarming stories from life on the farm. The book features a special foreword written by legendary farm broadcaster Max Armstrong.

True Farm Girl Adventures is available directly from the author (email cindy.ladage@royell.org), as well as in paperback and Kindle formats on Amazon. It joins Ladage’s previously published short story collection, Farm Girl Adventures, expanding a growing library of rural American storytelling.

Ladage is a freelance writer who contributes mostly to rural, farm-related publications. She provides features and travel stories for Farm World and is a staff writer for several collectible farm related publications such as Toy Farmer. She even co-authored three children’s books, including My Name is Huber, a Tractor’s Story. She won the “Content Creator Beyond Expectations” award at the 2026 Midwest Travel Network conference.

Ladage, who wasn’t raised on a farm, had no interest in farming growing up. But when she married a farmer at age 21, her life made a surprising U-turn.

“Back in the day, the schools would give you this ‘career test’ and it showed that I should be a farmer,” Ladage laughed. “I ended up a biology major working for the State of Illinois and always wanted to write. I worked in communications but wasn’t trained as a journalist.”

Ladage has been a columnist for Farm World the past 18 years. Her current column, Wrenching Tales, focuses on antique tractors, literature, farm toys, memorabilia and related agricultural history. Her work blends storytelling with preservation, reflecting her passion for agricultural heritage.

“I married a farmer who happened to like ‘old iron’ and he started going to old antique tractor shows and I was doing other things,” she said. “Before long, I found that he was going one way and I was going another. I thought, this was crazy so I decided to join him. At the time there was a guy named Kurt Aumann who started a magazine called Belt Pulley. I always wanted to write, and Kurt gave me that chance.”

Belt Pulley was a magazine dedicated to antique farm tractors of all brands and makes. Belt Pulley and Ladage were a perfect match.

“I accompanied my husband and began writing, but not about the technical aspect of tractors,” she said. “Rather, I wrote about the people aspect of the tractors. These tractors bring back memories for these owners and mean a lot to them. Behind each farm relic is a story to tell.

“There’s a lot of searching to all this. These relics might have belonged to grandpa or grandma and they slipped away from the family, but maybe they were able to buy it back. In other instances, there are those who have kept them in the family all these years. I found that the sentimentality is important to them when you come right down to it. Not knowing, they might have a collection of the rarest tractors in the world. These pieces of machinery are more than just a hunk of metal. It’s all the memories that are attached to them.”

Ladage is not your sit-at-a-desk writer. She racks up the miles on the family car, searching for an interesting angle while attending tractor shows, farmers markets, flea markets and more. Recently, she attended the Model T Ford Club of America’s Homecoming in Richmond, Ind.

“People may not know, but back then they took Model-A’s and Model-T’s and made tractors out of them,” she said. “I’ve learned so much about tractors because of all the interviewing I’ve done all these years. I know enough about tractors just to be dangerous.”

Ladage also enlightens readers about agri-tourism experiences, hidden museums, historic figures, country fairs, unexpected backroad discovers and road trips. Ladage recently finished a road trip along famous Route 66. Ladage, who lives five miles from Route 66, traveled the Illinois leg of this route with her friend, Dannelle Gay. Ladage wrote a blog about her experiences along the route.

“This excursion was great for three reasons,” she said. “First, it’s the adventure of taking this trip. Second is meeting the people and all the unexpected things you find along the way. Third, I enjoy telling readers about things they should know about these interesting stops.”

Ladage has become an expert in authenticating experiences that connect travelers to America’s heartland.

“I’ve had the opportunity over the years to attend a lot of tractor shows, travel through all the small towns and at times the larger cities, interviewing a lot of interesting people and it’s just a joy to profile some of the people I’ve met over the years,” she said. “Almost every place you go you find the town might have started because they created, say, plows in the town or some other farm-related item. There’s almost always an agricultural hook everywhere you go.”

Next up for Ladage is the book entitled Unique Eats and Eateries of Illinois: The People and Stories Behind the Food. She co-authored this book with her cousin, Carrie Steinweg. This 192-page travel and food guide explores the diverse culinary landscape of Illinois, from upscale dining to rural roadside favorites. Ledage’s Route 66 dining experiences included a stop at Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket (nearly a century of the same fried chicken recipe) and the famous Coz Dog Drive-In. One of her stops included the Ariston Café, the oldest restaurant on Route 66.

“It was hard because I had to eat my way through the state,” Ladage laughed.

Ladage received the Best Rural & Urban Travel Writer award from Luxe Magazine in 2020 and twice won the American Women in Communications Clarion Award (2016 and 2018)