My Projects

Writing Assignment 1: Write Something!

My sister and I found our first pet, a cat, when we were around ten and eight respectively. Her name is Mullins. That kitten was glued to the streets, living under a shed behind an elementary school my mother taught second grade at. She loved that cat, as did I. Two years later we found another cat coming around our house, we kept her as well. Her name is Patches. Lastly, we got a dog from our cousins a year after that. An Australian cattle dog, or better known as a Blue Heeler. Two cats and a dog, perfect scenario. A future vet, my sister, had difficulty stopping with the three animals. Attending Mississippi State University, she was now on her own, which brought on a newfound freedom she always longed for. Going through Veterinary school, her love for animals and caring for them grew and grew. I visited my sister twice through her freshman year at school, and she displayed to me how much she missed our three pets. When I was home, I would receive FaceTime calls from her telling me to show her the animals and let her talk to them. Her sophomore year, she got her own apartment off campus, once again, more freedom. The next time I visited her I saw she had a new pet, a hamster. Innocent enough I thought. As her time at Mississippi State grew, so did her pet collection. It started from two hamsters, to adding a guinea pig, then another guinea pig. It began to get out of control. Her senior year I had time to visit her only once, and safe to say I was shocked. Ten guinea pigs and three hamsters is what awaited me. My mom did not know what to think, as did I. After she graduated, she moved to Jackson for a job, and I have only seen her apartment once. She added three cats to her collection.

Writing Assignment 3: News Story with Photos

Memphis Music Fans Left Scratching Their Heads

Memphis police responded to a shooting Thursday evening leaving one man with non-fatal injuries.

The shooting occured at the FedExForum during a concert from chart topping rapper Lil Baby, with the shooter's identity and motive still remaining unsolved. The victim is being treated for life threatening injuries at Baptist Memorial Hospital.

The man shot was a local rapper and the cousin of the late Young Dolph. Connections in this shooting and that of Dolph are being considered by authorities.

Chad Mosby, a concert goer near the shooting, says “There was nothing but confusion, we heard a couple loud bangs and people started to scatter everywhere. Nobody knew if this was an attack or not, it was the scariest moment of my life.”

Many attendees were confused with how the weapon found its way into the arena, as all who attended were put through a security screening. Concert attendees and witnesses have been sharing their harrowing experiences on social media, with many expressing their shock and disbelief. Fans had come from far and wide to attend the concert, hoping to enjoy a memorable night with one of the hottest artists in the industry.

Authorities have launched a full-scale investigation into the shooting. Preliminary information suggests that the gunfire was not random but was instead targeted at specific individuals within the crowd. Lil Baby and his entourage were safely evacuated from the arena, and they are cooperating with the police in their investigation. According to USA Today, the shooting occurred during the first 30 minutes of Lil Baby’s set and he was quickly rushed off the stage by authorities. Lil Baby and NoCap, another rapper on tour with him, were not available for questioning by the media.

"It is concerning to go to a concert venue and be worried about public safety. I assumed a security check would ensure a weapon from being inserted in the venue, but I guess I was wrong,” says Tanner Gillis, a concert goer hailing from Memphis.

The community doesn’t know how to feel. Memphis has a reputation of violence across the city, and this does not do the city any favors.

Writing Assignment 4: Event Story

Cedar Hill Farms - A Staple of the Mid-South

By William Stewart

Since the 1970s, Cedar Hill Farms has been a place residents of Hernando, MS and the mid-south can bring their family to for an enjoyable day, no matter the season.

“Hernando was a small town when I started running this business,” says third generation and current owner Robert Foster. “But it’s really grown a lot over the years, especially in the last 20 years.”

From Christmas festivities, Easter egg hunting, to summer flower festivals, it’s a full schedule every season for Cedar Hill Farms and its 100 plus employees. However, no season generates revenue and public excitement quite like Halloween.

“I’ve worked on the haunted hay ride for the past five years,” says employee Cooper Taylor. With a slight grin on his face, “It gets better and better every year.”

Attractions include the Haunted Hayride, Flashlight Corn Maze, Trail of Terror, Haunted Barn - “Sensturbia”, and the Zombie Target Shoot for their Halloween attractions. For the kids, there is a petting zoo, pig races, rail road,chicken show, education station, hay fort, hay maze, giant slides, and the kiddie zip line. With the overall best sellers being the Haunted Hayride and Trail of Terror.

The 120 acre farm originally added Halloween attractions in 1996. Every year growing in profit and experience. Employees discuss how there is a year long preparation for every Halloween event at the farm.

“Once the season wraps up after the 31st we take a couple weeks to reset, then management lets us start to brainstorm new ideas for the next year,” says Cooper Taylor. “The goal is to continue to push the envelope and excite the customers.”

In 2013 the farm introduced two new haunted attractions: the “Sensturbia”, a haunted barn where guests attempt to make it all the way through without being spooked out, and “Zombie Apocalypse,” a haunted paintball target activity to compete in with your friends, one of the first of its kind. “We did add a new scene on the Trail of Terror this year, it’s a school bus scene. Really excited for the feedback from the guests we get on that,” says Foster.

As for adjustments and upgrades to the farm, not every aspect can be easily understood by the general public.

Owner Robert Foster explains, “A lot of things are unnoticed like when we add new gravel, repair fencing or adding a new electrical plumbing system.” The mundane, everyday work is what keeps the farm fresh and ever changing.

As for goals this fall season for Foster and the crew, “Our goal every year is to just make enough money to pay the bills for the next year,” Foster says with a chuckle.

“I know that sounds simple but that’s really it, with this kind of business it’s always a gamble with the weather.”

As for the weather, Foster could not be more pleased.

“Knock on wood we continue the good weather we’ve had this year.” The fall season for Cedar Hill Farms starts September 29th and wraps up Halloween evening.

Contact Cedar Hill Farm's Fall Season 2023 | Buy Tickets in Hernando | Ticketbud for available tickets.

Writing Assignment 5: Photo Essay

As the fall season approaches, local mid-south farmer Duane Steadham gears up for his busiest season of all, plus, the most lucrative.

Duane Steadham has lived in Horn Lake and Memphis all his life. Being born into a farming family, Duane began working in the fields as young as he can remember. “I was driving a tractor at eight years old,” says Steadham, with a slight grin on his face.

After graduating high school, Duane enrolled at Mississippi State to study agriculture. After graduating from Mississippi State in 1969 with a degree, he began working for the government as a soil conservationist based in Hernando, Mississippi.

Five years later and balancing two jobs, Duane began to wonder why he didn’t take all of his attention to growing the family farm, especially as his father ages. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Back to pumpkins, Duane explains “They have been my top seller since I took over. It’s strange to say but it’s true.” Farming wheat, corn, hay, soybeans, livestock, one would not be led to believe picking pumpkins as the most economically successful, but they would be wrong.

In the fall season, from October through late November, pumpkins are based outside of most small town establishments. From Walmart, Kroger, Bass Pro Shops, Tanger Outlets; all of these multi million dollar corporations are customers of Duane. He feels a need for these corporations, and gets paid accordingly.

His son and partner, Seth, fill two to three trailers daily stuffed to the brim with pumpkins. “Our biggest customer is actually Cedar Hill Farms… from the haunted house to the photo gallery, we probably have upwards of a thousand pumpkins there at one time,” explains Seth. Selling for two dollars a pumpkin in bulk, their low prices help them stoop away the competition.

As Halloween approaches, the work days get busier and more stressful for Duane, but he wouldn’t want it any other way.

Writing Assignment 6: Trend Story

Mississippi River: The Silent Crisis

By: William Stewart

In 2011, the Mississippi River reached historically high water levels, overflowing into the seeps of downtown Memphis: just eight months later, the river was at an historic low.

However, nothing to the likes of the dry season currently, and mid south farmers are finding a sense of “deja vu.”

The Mississippi River is a titan amongst bodies of water, boasting a role as the most primary and important water stream throughout the United States. From its original source, Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, to throughout the midwest and ending at the Gulf of Mexico, the river flows for 2,340 miles across the heartland of this nation.

The United States is dependent on the Mississippi for transportation and drinking water. The river gives millions of Americans access to safe drinking water while also playing a key foundational role in a 12.6 billion dollar shipping industry that gives over 35,000 Americans a job.

As the waters continue to plunge to historic lows, mid south farmers are facing a lineup of unprecedented challenges threatening their livelihoods and means to support their families.

“It is making every aspect of the job much more difficult,” says mid south farmer Zach Young, “...from the high price of crops, elevators shutting down, river bases drying up, there is a real sense of panic getting ready for the winter season.”

Last year was an historic low; today, the water levels are two feet lower than the recorded lowest of 2022. ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCfSH90oSO8&pp=ygUsbWlzc2lzc2lwcGkgcml2ZXIgd2F0ZXIgbGV2ZWwgMjAyMyBtaWQgc291dGg%3D

The consequences of this continued drought are ripping like tidal waves through the agricultural landscape. Once known for its vast supply of rich necessities for farmers across several states, the Mississippi is now looking like a shadow of its former self.

Shipping, irrigation, and crop yields are the aspects of agricultural maintenance most affected by said drought.

The transportation of goods is a key aspect of the Mississippi, serving as an invaluable asset to grains and crops being sent out across the country.

“I send my crops out through the Tunica river port. They have so many delays that they have overflowed soybean crops ready for distribution in bunkers in the parking lot,” Seth Steadham, a farmer based in Horn Lake explains.

“When the water is down they cannot load the barges fully, it could go from 25,000 to 20,000 bushels of any crop, that runs the price up. At its worst corn was offered at $1.20 at the bases when it was only nickels just a couple of months ago.”

This upward trend of prices and hindered navigation not only affects farmers, but many of our nation’s communities who rely on these goods to be delivered on time and at a good cost.

The water of the river itself is valuable for irrigation, which is the supply of land and water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels. Irrigation (nationalgeographic.org).

Corn and Soybean farmers are those most affected, with diminishing water access putting a dent into crop counts, playing a massive role in the consistent surge of food prices affecting mid-south consumers.

From being forced to abandon fields entirely, farmers are worried that this will continue to affect future planting operations, as if the soil is dry it will be difficult for crops to grow.

The water crisis with the Mississippi continues on to its drinking ability, as the low levels has enabled salt water to infiltrate the river’s fresh water, leaving President Biden to declare a state of emergency, per agriculturedive.com

The quality of crops will diminish as the drought continues.

Staple crops are vulnerable to effects of the drought. Changing the process by which they cultivate crops is a necessity for farmers to maintain production, but comes with costly investments, furthermore enhancing their financial loss.

“Some new methods of cultivating crops are available, but with a lot more money put down and still a high likelihood of a good amount of hauls being lost,” says Tunica farmer Paul Green.

The future may be uncertain for farmers across the mid-south. However, the river known as the “heartland of the nation,” is populated with farmers with heart and grit. The men who maintain this country will not cease until a solution is found.

“There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel,” Seth Steadham explained, wearing a slight grin on his face, seemingly hopeful for the future.

Writing Assignment 8: Q&A / Personality Profile

The Last Man Standing

Written by William Stewart

In 1968, Duane Steadham took control over the hillside Nesbit property his father bought ten years prior known as Lazy S. Farms. Today, it’s one of the last farms of its size left in Desoto County.

Known for his large stature but charismatic charm, Duane Steadham has been farming full time since the 60s, outlasting all of his competitors by doing whatever it takes to stay profitable. Whether it’s showcasing innovation by using goats to solve a Hernando kudzu crisis or being the number one supplier of pumpkins in the Mid-South; Duane has balanced different aspects of agricultural maintenance to a high degree, ultimately resulting in financial gain.

Rather than stay home and just farm off his 100 plus acre property, Duane expanded his family’s empire. Buying multiple stakes of land in Hernando, Lake Cormorant, Como, Tunica, Memphis, and Senatobia. Each specific plot of land Duane purchases will be used for a different crop, a plan that has proved lucrative over time.

Duane is an interesting character; a roller blading fanatic, Sunday school teacher, who travels to Wisconsin once a year to indulge in a bratwurst.

He just so happens to also be one of the most successful small time farmers in the state of Mississippi.

WS - How did you get started working in agriculture and farming?

DS - In 1957, we moved to our present location. My dad always wanted to have a small farm, so we moved here when I was eight years old at the time. I fell in love with it and have loved it ever since. Of course I’ve grown up here, we still rent land all around but we still have our home place we operate on. It’s been a wonderful journey, I had the opportunity to attend Mississippi State and study agricultural economics. For a short period of time I worked for USDA in the soil conservation service, but my first love was always farming. I just decided that I would come back home and go back to farming full time which is what I’ve done.

WS - What crops sell the best that you produce and who do you typically sell them to?

DS - Well, our farm is fairly small. We still row crops, selling soybeans and corn. Soybeans is the easiest one, because there’s a fairly good market for it. But our biggest seller here has been cattle. However, a lot of the local cattle auction barns have closed up so our closest one from here has been in Como, MS. So, we still raise a lot of hay for the cattle. That’s my favorite thing to mess with, it's just easier and our place is rolling land, so it’s really not suitable for row crop, only for cattle and hay. But, we still do rent land to row crop ons w, aell as harvest pumpkins.

WS - What do you deem a successful year?

DS - Well, with the uncertainty in farming nowadays, just to break even and not go out of business. A lot of small farms are all gone now, it’s shifted to bigger and bigger farms just because of the economics of it. The farm that we have here is one of the smallest in Desoto County. It's just something that I enjoy doing and at my advanced age I could just call it a career at any time but I love doing what I do, and just keep going.

WS - What is your motivation to keep going?

DS - To be able to get up each morning, and you look outside and you see the beauty that God has provided. He’s given me the opportunity to be outside, to farm, to just enjoy his creation. I get excited about it. I don’t get up as early as I used to when I was young, but I still start my day watching the sun come up. It doesn’t get much better than that, I’m ready to go.

WS - What is your favorite and least favorite aspect of farming?

DS - When you talk about ‘what’s your favorite thing that you do,’ I honestly enjoy all of it. Well, nevermind. My least favorite thing to do is feed cow’s when it’s fifteen degrees, the grounds’ frozen, the ponds are frozen over, it’s cold, the tractor doesn’t start, winds’ blowing, and it’s just miserable. But, outside of that, it’s a good time.

WS - Where do you think the future of farming is headed?

DS - There’s always gonna be farming. People have this perception that the groceries at Kroger and Walmart and Save A Lot just show up there, but they don’t. Somebody produces that. So, there will always be a need for farming, maybe not what we’re used to. It’s gonna be some change, but there will always be farming because as we look around the world there’s a lot of people that are hungry that need food. America is really good at being able to produce food, and that will help the world.