Great Plains lecture will focus on American family farm

Author Ted Genoways tells the story of Great Plains agriculture through the lens of a Nebraska family farm in “This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm,” the winner of this year’s Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize.

Genoways will give a free, public lecture on the book at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Center for Great Plains Studies, 1155 Q St. He’ll also receive the medallion and $10,000 attached to the book prize. Books will be available for purchase.

“While following the Hammond family through an eventful year, Genoways manages to educate the reader on the origin of hybrid corn, the evolution (and recycling) of tractors, and the coming of center-pivot irrigation to the Great Plains,” said David Loope, professor emeritus in earth and atmospheric sciences at Nebraska and book prize committee chair.

Genoways, a fourth-generation Nebraskan, is a contributing editor at Mother Jones, The New Republic and Pacific Standard. His last book, “The Chain: Farm, Factory and the Fate of Our Food,” was a finalist for the James Beard Award for writing and literature.

The Stubbendieck book prize celebrates the most outstanding work about the Great Plains during the previous year.

The Sept. 20 event is part of the Paul A. Olson Great Plains lecture series. Learn more here.