I fell in love with farming all over again while attending the 5^th annual North Dakota Grape and Wine Festival. I have five generations of North Dakota farming in my blood but my appreciation grew deeper as we were visiting the Red Trail Vineyard nestled between corn and soybean fields in the heart of the Red River Valley.

AdFarmers Katie Pinke and Carina Emil take in the North Dakota Grape & Wine Festival held on August 21

Red Trail Vineyard is owned and operated by Rodney Hogen and his wife, Susan, who is a long time AdFarmer in our Fargo, ND office. 1420 miles from Napa Valley, Rodney and Susan Hogen are farming wine grapes and producing wine in the middle of the prairies and on some of the richest farm land in the world.

AdFarmer Susan Hogen, along with her husband Rodney, operates Red Trail Vineyard near Buffalo, ND.

Specialty agriculture is an agri-tourism destination.

Besides being innovative specialty farmers, Rodney and Susan know how to throw a party. The wine tasting, grape stomp event and blue grass music on a beautiful summer evening made for a grand celebration of farming and agriculture. The sun was shining while hundreds of people tasted Red Trail’s original wines and North Dakota produced Bessy’s Best cheese, produced on a 3^rd generation dairy farm at Sterling, ND.

Hundreds attended and tasted Bessy’s Best cheese from Sterling, ND and the ND produced Red Trail Vineyard wines.

The grape stomp was a draw for many as teams of two competed against one another to see who could stomp out the most juice from grapes in a ninety second time frame. The juice was carefully measured after each session with an overall winner.

Agriculture as inspiration.

The manicured vineyard and old granary turned gift shop gave me a deeper appreciation for innovative and progressive farmers from across the globe whether they are raising 7,000 acres of corn and soybeans or 7 acres of wine grapes. They are farmers who love their land and are working every day to raise and produce the safest and best quality food—and wine—supply  for the world.

What local agricultural event have you attended this summer?

Katie Pinke lives with her husband and three children in the heart of the North Dakota prairie, where she connects people and businesses equally passionate about agriculture to AdFarm. You can find her @katpinke on Twitter or at Katie.Pinke@adfarmonline.com.