Last year’s Midwest drought evoked images of the dust bowl of the “dirty 30’s”. But how many of you really know much about it or what it took to survive those trying times? Here’s one way you can get a glimpse into those times. It’s a film documentary called, “Harvesting The High Plains.” An advance copy is now available for purchase online. Additionally, the documentary is running on local PBS stations and you might want to consider calling your local station to request that they air it. Why? Because it is a very well done historical and inspiring look at how American ingenuity took the challenge of some of the most adverse working conditions you can imagine to farm the land and essentially created a whole new way to grow and harvest a wheat crop.

I want to share a conversation with the Director of the documentary, Jay Kriss, Inspirit Creative, in which we discuss how he got involved in this project. Jay is not only works in the film industry but also still farms wheat back on the family farm in Kansas. He has a direct personal connection to one of the main characters you’ll get to know in the film. The documentary is narrated by Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe. You’ll learn in our interview that he and Jay have a mutual connection which made Mike a perfect choice to handle this job. The documentary is sponsored by the AGCO Gleaner brand. Gleaner combine harvesters were born in Kansas and are a part of the story told in the documentary according to Kevin Bien, Gleaner brand marketing manager in a company press release.

Listen to our conversation here: Interview with Jay Kriss

Here’s the trailer to give you a taste of what you can expect in the documentary. You can find more information on the “Harvesting The High Plains” website.