We know sometimes the news can feel heavy, and at times it can feel like there are a number of issues that can divide us.
So, each week through the end of the year, we're taking time to focus on the positive, passing the mic to people in our community who are making a difference, sometimes in unique ways.
This week, we're introducing you to a farmer from Harrisonville, Missouri. Not only is he one of ten farmers chosen from across the country to represent agriculture in the United States, but he also owns and operates a popular pumpkin patch.
And that's just scratching the surface of how he's sharing his love for farming with his community.
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Matt Moreland has been personally leading field trip tours at Red Barn Ranch every day in September and October for the past 11 years.
Following Matt and the school kids into the pumpkin patch, it's hard to tell who's having more fun, him or the kids.
It would be easy to assume he'd tire of teaching the same lessons day after day.
But, the easy smile and enthusiasm in his voice are proof he's found his passion, planting seeds of knowledge.
However, a pumpkin patch wasn't part of Matt's original plan.
"I've been farming pretty much my whole life, ever since I was old enough to help out. It's in my blood, I'm fourth generation," he proudly shares.
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In 2012, he was in his corn fields down the road from where the Red Barn Ranch now sits when he got a phone call out of the blue from an older farmer he barely knew who owned that land. At the time, little did he know that call would change his life.
"He asked me if I could come by his house sometime. So, on a lunch break on Aug. 24, 2012, I went and said, 'Hey, how can I help you out?' And he asked me if I had ever been on the farm or in the house. And I said, 'No, I guess I haven't either of those.' And he said, "Which one do you want to see first?' And I kind of laughed at him and said, 'With all due respect, why do I need to see either one of them?' And he said, 'I don't know about you, but I like to see things before I buy them.'"
Matt says he and his wife fell in love with the property, but initially, it was way out of their price range. However, over the next several months, the owner worked with them till he eventually made a generous offer they couldn't refuse.
They bought the property and started with dairy cows and crops. But, a bad hay harvest that first year forced him to try something new.
"We thought we'd try pumpkins. In my mind, I was growing pumpkins for wholesale market, for Walmart and Hy-Vee and Price Chopper and local grocery stores. The mistake that I made was I forgot to tell the local grocery stores that I was growing pumpkins for them," Matt recalls.
He recalls loading up close to 18,000 pounds of pumpkins and driving them to various stores, only to learn those stores had contracted with other producers months earlier.
"So, we brought the pumpkins back, in fact right in the patch where we picked them, and we came up with the name Red Barn Ranch. We made a Facebook page and painted a sign and put a sign out by the road that said we're open at 10 o'clock on Saturday."
Much to his surprise customers showed up at the impromptu pumpkin patch.
But, he soon learned something was missing.
"They said, 'Well, we're trying to find your attractions, your activities, things for the kids to do.' And I pointed to the pumpkin patch and said, 'The pumpkin patch, we have pumpkins to pick, that's all we have.' And then one family said, 'Have you ever been to a pumpkin patch?' So, I re-created what I did as a farmer, you know we built tunnels and we brought down a pen to put corn in it, and I brought a bottle calf down."
As he realized these attractions sparked conversations about farm life, his purpose, and his patch grew, encompassing much more, from a classic corn maze to original attractions aplenty.
And, he's educating some of the youngest members of the community, through what he describes as the largest farm school in the state.
It caters to preschoolers and is accredited like any other typical Pre-K, just with a twist.
"So, instead of learning to count numbers on a page or blocks in a classroom, they're learning to count chicken eggs out of the chicken coop. They're learning their colors from the changing of the leaves, the flowers, the trees, the goats."
It's proven to be so successful, that in addition to the 90 students enrolled here from August through May, he says they have roughly 400 students on a waiting list, which is why there are plans to build two more classrooms on the property.
And he takes his love for agriculture education on the road, visiting local schools, often bearing gifts.
"We really try to give back to the community in every way possible I have to make a living, but as long as as long as I'm still feeding my family, we try to give back everything else we can."
It's yet another instance of Matt's attempts to give back to his community, trying to encourage his love for agriculture to take root in future generations.
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