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Once known as the "Great American Desert," Nebraska's plains and native grasslands today make it a domestic leader in producing food, feed and fuel. From Omaha to Ogallala, Nebraska's founding farmers, ranchers and agribusiness leaders endured hardships while fostering kinships that have lasted generations. While many continued on the trails leading west, others from around the world stayed, seeking a home and land to cultivate. American Doorstop Project co-founders and authors Jody L. Lamp and Melody Dobson celebrate the state's forgotten and untold agricultural history, highlighting more than a century and a half of agriculture industry, inventions and innovations in the Cornhusker State.

Spanning nineteen thousand square miles of central Nebraska, the Sand Hills--North America's largest sand dune--is held in place by only a thin, sturdy layer of native prairie grasses and continuing faith that the land can be made prosperous by its residents. Settlers in the area had to be hardy and resourceful, making use of what the land provided and holding fast when their hard work blew away with the prairie winds. From foraging to ranching, food meant survival, but it also meant community. Staples like fried chicken, biscuits, fruit pies, preserves and cakes all play a role in the fascinating story of the region. Join food writer Christianna Reinhardt as she dishes up the unique and tasty history of this exceptional part of the world.

Sugar beets are as tenaciously rooted in Nebraska's history as they are in its soil, especially in a seventy-mile stretch of the North Platte Valley that extended into eastern Wyoming. The state's first processing facility opened in Grand Island in 1890, boasting the largest mill in the world. The height of the beet boom occurred in the early part of the twentieth century as Wyobraskan towns courted factory locations as feverishly as rival sugar companies competed for territory, and an irrigation network turned the region into America's Valley of the Nile. Some rail lines have disappeared from the map, while catastrophes like the Scottsbluff and Bayard sugar bin explosions and the Gering Molasses spill will never be forgotten. From neglected beet dumps and abandoned rail spurs to silos ready for future harvests, explore Sugar Valley's heritage with Lawrence Gibbs.