Mary and Leah catch up during a busy and emotional season on the ranch. With calving in full swing and a high school graduation just weeks away, the conversation weaves between the realities of agricultural life and the personal transitions of motherhood. Leah shares what it feels like to watch her daughter step into adulthood while juggling the demands of calving season. The discussion explores how intense seasons of life can bring both exhaustion and gratitude, and why it is okay to feel deeply during major transitions. The episode also dives into ranch life during calving, including: Mary and Leah reflect on the emotional weight of caring for animals responsibly,…

On the last day of March, somewhere between freezing rain in Minnesota and wildfire warnings in Colorado, a simple truth comes into focus: agriculture is never just about the weather, the crops, or the cattle. It is about people. In this episode of Grit and Grace in the Heartland, Mary and Leah sit down with rancher and advocate Janie Van Winkle, whose life reflects both the grit and the grace the podcast is named for. From greenhouse seedlings to drought-stricken rangeland, the conversation moves easily between humor and heartbreak, revealing the layered reality of rural life. Spring is trying to arrive. Seeds are planted. Lettuce and tomatoes push quietly toward the light.…

Some mornings start with coffee and quiet. Others start with grit in your eyes and wind that never seems to stop. This week brought both. After a stretch of heat that pushed calves and caretakers alike, a sudden front rolled through in the early hours. The wind shifted hard, temperatures dropped, and the dry ground turned airborne. Dust storms are not poetic when you are living in them. They steal feed from buckets, sting your eyes, and remind you just how little control you have. And then came the fires. Dry lightning sparked multiple wildfires across rural Nebraska. No rain, just strikes and wind. In places where people are few…

Mary and Leah dive into rising grocery costs, unpredictable spring weather, and the realities of farm life during calving season. With prices climbing and uncertainty in the air, they shift the conversation to practical solutions families can control right now. This episode focuses on cooking from scratch as a powerful way to stretch your grocery budget, build food security, and reconnect with your family. Mary and Leah share personal stories, simple kitchen tips, and encouragement for anyone who feels overwhelmed or out of practice in the kitchen. They talk about the value of planning meals, using simple ingredients, and making food go further with techniques like adding fillers to ground…

There is something powerful about hearing an honest story from someone who has lived through a complete life pivot. In this episode of Grit and Grace in the Heartland, Mary and Leah sat down with writer and ranch wife Stacy Bronec to talk about rural life, motherhood, agriculture, and the challenge of building a meaningful life that does not always look the way you imagined it would. The conversation began with weather. While Mary described snow and freezing temperatures in the Midwest, Leah shared updates about devastating wildfires in Nebraska. Their discussion highlighted something every agricultural family understands deeply: life on the land is shaped by forces beyond our control.…

Spring doesn’t arrive gently in the heartland. It shows up with wind that rattles the windows, snow that refuses to take a hint, and a long to-do list that doesn’t care what the forecast says. For those of us tied to the land, this season is less about flowers and more about readiness. Because spring means one thing above all else on a cattle ranch. Calving season. Right now, everything is ramping up. What starts as a trickle quickly becomes a flood. There are meetings to organize responsibilities, especially the overnight shifts that turn sleep into a luxury instead of a guarantee. During calving season, the work doesn’t stop when…

Spring on the ranch brings a certain kind of chaos. Calving season is near. Graduation season is here. And for many families, emotions are running high. In a recent conversation on Grit and Grace in the Heartland, Mary and Leah opened up about the pressure young people face today. From college decisions to the weight of student debt, teenagers are carrying more than ever before. As parents, there is a constant balancing act between encouraging responsibility and reminding kids they do not have to have their entire lives figured out at 17 years old. But while graduation stress and springtime ranch work filled the beginning of the conversation, the episode…

Some stories stay with you long after the conversation ends. This episode of Grit and Grace in the Heartland was one of those stories. What started as a conversation about miniature Highland cattle quickly became something deeper. It became a story about resilience, motherhood, agriculture, grief, faith, and finding purpose in the middle of life’s hardest seasons. Kate from Rolling Seven Ranch Company in Broken Bow, Nebraska joined us to share how a simple idea turned into a thriving business that now connects people across the country to agriculture through some very fluffy, very adorable cattle. And yes, if you have seen a fuzzy Highland cow on a T-shirt, coffee…

There are some conversations that feel less like interviews and more like sitting around a kitchen table with coffee in hand while stories unfold naturally. This episode of Grit and Grace in the Heartland was exactly that. Mary and Leah welcomed Nebraska rancher and writer Megan Messersmith, the voice behind This Cowgirl’s Story, for a heartfelt conversation about ranching, motherhood, hard winters, faith, and the quiet healing power of writing. And somehow, it all began with baby calves in bathtubs. Why Ranchers Put Calves in Bathtubs Leah had shared a funny Facebook live about warming chilled calves in bathtubs, which sparked a flood of memories from both Mary and Megan.…

Spring is slowly arriving across the Heartland, even if cloudy skies and rainy mornings are hiding the sunshine. For ranch families, though, the season moves forward no matter the weather. Calving season has begun, tractors will soon return to the fields, and long days are once again part of daily life. In this episode of Grit and Grace in the Heartland, Mary and Leah welcome Nebraska rancher Marla Stallbaumer to talk about life on a multi-generation operation, raising a family in agriculture, and rediscovering personal identity along the way. Marla grew up just outside her hometown and always felt the pull to return after college. Luckily, her husband Curtis shared that…