Mark Kenney and his family lived through the farm crisis of the 1980s, when the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy and collapsing global food markets forced many farmers out of business.

I met Mark Kenney on his family鈥檚 farm in Nevada, Iowa, when I was working on a . He turned out to be perfect for that 鈥� a farmer with a keen interest in spreadsheets.

Kenney and his family lived through the farm crisis of the 1980s, when the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy and collapsing global food markets forced many farmers out of business. He surprised me, though, when he started describing how lucky he was to grow up during a notoriously tough time to be a farmer 鈥� and became choked up by the memories.

鈥淎t the time it didn鈥檛 feel like a whole lot of fun. The 鈥�80s for farmers in Iowa and the Midwest and throughout the country were not looked upon as, 鈥楪eez those were great times,鈥欌€� Kenney said. 鈥淏ut they also taught us a lot of lessons.鈥�

His family鈥檚 farm, run by Kenney鈥檚 father and grandfather, survived, but he watched with them as neighbors lost their farms.

鈥淎 lot of good farmers went out of business and that鈥檚 tough to see,鈥� Kenney said, 鈥淚n some cases through no fault of their own. It鈥檚 just 鈥� caught up in a bad economic time.鈥�

Now a farmer himself, he knows the extraordinary effort it takes to keep a farm running. And that鈥檚 in the good times.

鈥淚鈥檓 even more thankful for my grandparents, my parents, my uncle because of the hard work they put in during those times,鈥� Kenney said. 鈥淸They] gave us the opportunity to stay on the farm and for me to make my livelihood from the farm, too.鈥�

As the farm crisis spiraled out of control and farmers all over the country struggled to stay afloat, it was hard for many to imagine a future on the farm.

鈥淐ommodity prices were depressed, land values kept falling and it didn鈥檛 seem like there was a whole lot of reason to be optimistic,鈥� Kenney said. That left many of his generation uninterested in farming.

鈥淏ecoming a farmer wasn鈥檛 cool,鈥� Kenney said.

Even though he wanted to farm, he saw clearly the need to have a variety of skills. His background includes working at a company that financed agricultural equipment and earning a master鈥檚 degree in agricultural economics before returning to be the fifth generation to farm his family鈥檚 land, with his father and his brother-in-law. (Kenney鈥檚 niche on the farm, he said, is spreadsheets and financials.)

Talking about the 1980s is emotional for Kenney, but he said lessons learned as a young boy still stay with him today. The crisis fostered in him an appreciation for what he has.

鈥淚鈥檓 thankful for it because I kind of know, don鈥檛 forget that those times could come again,鈥� he said.

And the hard times also demonstrated to Midwestern farmers their intractable place in a global market.

鈥淭hey taught us about world trade, they taught us about exchange rates, they taught us about interest rates, they taught us about inflation,鈥� Kenney said. 鈥淭hings that farmers before then may have been aware of, but they didn鈥檛 realize that what happens on the world stage could put me out of business.鈥�

Now he uses a smartphone every day to check the markets.

Editor's Note: This is the first installment of My Farm Roots, Harvest Public Media鈥檚 series chronicling Americans鈥� connection to the land.  to explore more  stories and to share your own.