George Rohrbacher was sitting on his tractor baling hay one fine July morning 20 years ago when he got the idea that changed his life and saved his farm. "We'd just about lost it all...we were going broke," he recalls, talking about the years of drought that hit his Washington cattle spread in the late 1970's. - Read more

For the 35th morning in a row, farmer George Rohrbacher rose at 3 a.m., began bailing his hay fields by tractor headlights and wondered what he was going to do about his foundering farm. Row after row , he rode through the dark fields agonizing about the ultimatum his pregnant wife, Ann, recently had given him: she was going to quit her job at a local radio station and raise a family- farm or no farm.     -Read more

After carefully calculating his debts and assets, Mr. Proskuryakov takes a long look at his property. He is finally ready to make his first capital purchase. "I need a tractor and credit," says the lanky 37 year old, handing the required 20% down payment to his banker. The banker hands back a tiny vinyl sticker embossed with a simple drawing of a tractor. Mr. Proskuryakov parks his new tractor next to his wheat field and the deal is done.     -Read more