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Darcy Dougherty Maulsby has written for Farm News almost since its early days in the spring of 1996.

Life provides all of us with turning points. Many come disguised as ordinary events in daily life. When that happens, only later do we realize how significant these events really are.

I think back to the spring of 1996, when I lined up a summer internship with Farm News, which was only a year old back then. I started working with the editor, Bill Rentsch, in late May after finishing the spring semester at Iowa State University.

Oh, how much I had to learn! The only writing for publication that I’d done at that point came from my role as the editor of the Iowa Agriculturist, a monthly student magazine at ISU.

Oh sure, I’d written plenty of academic essays and term papers from junior high through college, but teachers and professors were my only “audience.”

I remember how nervous I was the first few times my byline appeared in Farm News.

Suddenly, my name was attached to real articles, which could be read by real people — and nearly all of them probably knew much more about the subject matter than I did. What if I screwed up?

I forged ahead and did my best to learn all I could that summer. Fortunately, Farm News was a great place to get plenty of practical, real-world, hands-on learning, thanks to guidance from Bill and other staff at the newspaper. As I reflect on my experiences with Farm News, here are eight things I’ve learned along this fascinating, 27-year journey:

1. Don’t be afraid to zig when others zag. When I graduated from high school in 1992 and headed to college, it wasn’t cool to consider careers in ag. The brutal years of the 1980s Farm Crisis weren’t that far in the rearview mirror. Still, my dad encouraged me to consider ag journalism at ISU, since I’d grown up on a farm. That decision turned out to be a great choice for me, with a career that has included Farm News and many other interesting opportunities in ag.

2. Adapt to change. In the mid-1990s, technology was transforming everything from ag to the media business. Roundup Ready technology was beginning to revolutionize crop production, and the internet was just starting to transform communication. It wasn’t long before I needed to upgrade skills I learned at ISU, such as shooting pictures with a film camera and developing prints in a darkroom, so I could work with digital technology. (Farm News supplied me with my first digital camera in the early 2000s.)

During my Farm News internship, I learned the old-school ways of preparing newspaper pages for printing. Before graphic design software became the norm, paste-up was a key element in the newspaper design process. You would print out articles, images and ads that would appear on the pages of the newspaper. Then you’d assemble the various pieces like a puzzle into your desired layout.

Because mistakes could easily be made, such as laying down pieces crooked or not spacing items correctly, each piece had to be removable. The best adhesive for this purpose was wax. I remember the waxer that Farm News and The Messenger used. The waxer worked like a feeder on a copier. You’d stick in the sheet to be waxed, and it would pop out the other end coated and ready to go. After a few more steps, the page layouts were ready to go to the printing press. As early versions of desktop publishing software (including QuarkXPress and PageMaker) became more prevalent in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the era of the waxer quickly came to an end.

3. Ask questions. The summer I was a Farm News intern, we got a story lead about an interesting farmer southwest of Lytton. His name was Reinard Wulkow, and his story sounded too outrageous to be true. He was part of the D-Day invasion in 1944 in World War II. He was a spy who posed as a high-ranking Nazi leader to gain access to the Buchenwald concentration camp during the war. He was an Army veteran who could speak multiple languages. After returning to Sac County to farm, he also made grandfather clocks and taught art at Iowa Central.

Bill and I were intrigued by this news tip, but we were skeptical. We called the Sac Sun newspaper to get the scoop on this guy. Turns out it all was true, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Reinard and sharing his remarkable story in the June 28, 1996, issue of Farm News.

4. Invest the time to do things right. Stories for Farm News (or any other media outlet, for that matter) are rarely as easy to produce as they might appear. People are sometimes surprised to learn that I don’t just call a source, chat for five minutes and have enough content to write a good article.

While some people are available the day I reach out to request an interview, sometimes it takes months for stories to come together. Just the interviews can take days or weeks to line up (especially when you’re working around planting and harvest, sources’ vacations, unexpected illnesses, maternity leave, deaths in the family, and other factors that complicate things. Hey, life happens.) I’ve learned the importance of planning ahead and investing the time to ensure an exceptional final product.

5. Be prepared for anything. When you’re a farm reporter, you’d better pack muck boots, caps and heavy coats, along with your notebook, computer and camera. While I’ve done interviews at executives’ offices, board rooms and the state capitol, I’ve also conducted interviews in combine and tractor cabs, cattle feedlots and barns. Stories are often richer when I’ve been in the same environment as the people I’m writing about.

6. Become an exceptional listener. My Farm News work has taught me the importance of listening with my eyes as well as my ears, meaning I pay attention to body language and other subtle communication clues. Interviews are often full of surprises.

While some sources don’t want to open up, others reveal a lot more personal information than I ever asked for (or wanted to know). Some days I’m not sure whether I’m a Farm News writer or a psychologist, but this job has definitely fine-tuned my listening skills — and my insights into human nature.

7. Grow where you’re planted. Some writers head to other states, big cities or other countries to find inspiration. I’ve found plenty of fertile ground right here in Iowa. Throughout all these years of covering farm meetings, speeches, field days, county and state fairs, farm cooks, barn stories, Century Farm histories, and human-interest stories, I’ve gotten to meet many of you, our loyal Farm News readers. It’s an honor to share your stories. Many of you have become lifelong friends of mine, too. For that, I am grateful.

8. Remain eternally curious. This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned since that turning point in 1996 when I started working with Farm News. Your curiosity is your growth point — always. As we celebrate Farm News’ anniversary and look to the future, count on us to remain curious about the world around us, remain focused on rural Iowa and share new stories that matter to you.