The grain, nurtured to perfection on this farmer's soil, is the measure of this man's greatness. The people of the Great Plains have been defined by the commodities they produce and the place they are from. They measure the value of land by its ability to raise corn or cattle, wheat or hay. There is a necessary sadness here. For what has defined these people before and measured their personal greatness is now defined as without significant value.
Commodities are common, unimportant.
No one cares what the rancher went through to deliver that perfect bunch of red Angus feeder calves to the auction ring. The order buyer gets them for the lowest price possible and hopes that the rancher will have another load next year. He didn't get the fellow's name. Likewise the wheat is planted. The farm family worries about weather, insurance, weeds and pest, and finally it looks like a harvest.