RYAN DENNIS

I walked gingerly up to the table with my registration slip. The eight men sitting there turned toward me. They looked me up and down, making calculations. Rural poker sharks do not look like the Vegas typecast seen in movies.

The nature of agriculture has changed consistently through the decades, becoming largely a global phenomenon. The events farmers experience on one side of the planet, from weather to low prices, often have an impact for those on the other side of the world, especially when it comes to international markets.

We have tractors that can connect to GPS and drive on autopilot. An offsite mechanic can use telematics to access the onboard diagnostic system of a machine.

I tend to be a quantity-over-quality type of guy.

Instead of a nice pair of jeans, I’d rather have three cheap pairs of Levis to take the pressure off washing.

In 1939, Patrick Kavanagh left his farm in County Monaghan, Ireland, and moved to Dublin to become a writer.

One of the consequences of living in a city is inevitably picking up a few friends who are vegetarians. They see me order a burger and ask how I can eat beef, knowing that cattle contribute to greenhouse gases.