Book cover of This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm

Book description

The family farm lies at the heart of our national identity, yet its future is in peril. Rick Hammond grew up on a small ranch, and for forty years he has raised cattle and crops on his wife's fifth-generation homestead in York County, Nebraska, in hopes of passing it on…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked This Blessed Earth as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I love my nonfiction to be captivating. This Blessed Earth was written by a Nebraska native and chronicles a year in the life of an American family farm.

The complexity of farming is shocking. Farmers must make decisions on outcomes they do not control. Despite careful planning, the worst can happen at any time, without warning.

The strength of a family is tested daily. Producing food is the most vital job and also the least understood by most consumers.  

If you love This Blessed Earth...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like This Blessed Earth?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 69 books like This Blessed Earth.

Browse books like This Blessed Earth

Book cover of The Chain: Farm, Factory, and the Fate of Our Food
Book cover of Rhinos in Nebraska: The Amazing Discovery of the Ashfall Fossil Beds
Book cover of Secrets on the Wind

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like This Blessed Earth, you might also like...

Book cover of Murder, Lies and Chocolate

Murder, Lies and Chocolate by Sally Berneathy,

Book 2, Death by Chocolate series.

Rodney Bradford comes into Lindsay's restaurant, offers to buy her small house for double its value, eats her brownies, and drops dead on the sidewalk in front. Next, her almost-ex-husband offers to sign the divorce papers, but only if she'll give him her small,…

Book cover of Tangle of Time

Tangle of Time by Maureen Thorpe,

A spellbinding journey through time and cultures.

When Annie Thornton, midwife and apprentice witch, falls through time to a 15th-century Yorkshire village with her telepathic cat, Rosamund, she befriends Will and Jack, two soldiers returning from the French Wars. Mistress Meg, Annie’s ancestral aunt living in the 15th century, is…

5 book lists we think you will like!