WASHINGTON (June 30, 2009)—Ideally, implementing rules provide a clear-cut "yes" or "no" for newly passed laws. Not so with the 2008 farm bill's changes on disaster assistance, payment limitations, and eligibility provisions, which have left farmers with a lot of "maybes"… and a lot of confusion.

Three decades ago, TIME magazine took an in-depth look at “The New American Farmer”. At the time of their feature, the business of farming was rapidly shifting from the inefficient, tiny farms that dominated the 1930s, to larger-scale family run operations that need to be adept at business, engineering, and technology to keep up with the world's growing population

Over the past month, we've dissected this 30-year-old cover story, which holds as much relevance today as it did when it was first written. In particular, we've looked at the age-old myth that U.S. farms are being taken over by corporate agribusiness, as well as the litany of challenges facing the modern-day farmer...

Part one: The myth of the large farm and "corporate agribusiness."
 
Part two: The myth that most farmers are raking in the big bucks.

Part three: Groundbreaking technologies that propelled farming into a new era

An elected official, Terry Wanzek is well known and well liked around North Dakota. In fact, the state senator from Jamestown has represented the people of the 29th district since 1995—except for one interrupted term in 2005.

That's when a political opponent went on the attack and demonized Terry for his full-time career, riding a wave of misinformation into political office.

No, Terry is not a lobbyist with a checkered past, or a CPA helping large corporations find tax loopholes. Terry is a farmer, long thought to be one of the most admirable professions in the world.