Farmer-Favorite Stories From 2024

An adrenaline junkie needs a farmland fix. Metal detector in hand, Andy Thaxton marches the rows and pasture of countless acres, hunting coins, keys, bullets and bells — the final testament of forgotten lives.

A bracelet, a body, a bride denied, an insatiably curious farmer and an intrepid daughter, all separated by 4,300 miles, yet connected by an 80-year mystery. In 1991, Jim Dick broke the black soil of his North Dakota fields and struck a silver enigma — an inscribed armlet bearing the name of a fallen soldier from New York City.

Lust, larceny and massive sheds. Led by aerial maps and insider tips, the law won’t deter these trespassers from stealing monster sheds, but Steve Snow collared a ring of poachers red-handed. Welcome to a dose of frontier justice.

How did a collection of superb arrowheads stolen from beneath a boy’s bed lead to the greatest collection of farmland marbles ever gathered? Welcome to Wyman Atwood’s unlikely tale of obsession, deceit and an astounding marble mountain that's still growing.