Part historical memoir and part "blueprint" for sustainable farming and the future of agricultural communities, this works follows the life of a born and raised farmer, and the changes to his trade witnessed over a lifetime.

A Practical Farmer's Journey consists of three promises. The first is the promise that was fulfilled for many immigrants as they came to settle in western Iowa. Many were able to purchase land, start farms, and build new towns and communities. The second promise is how the promise was broken, coinciding directly with Ron L. Rosmann's lifetime of over 50 years as a farmer. The corporatization and industrialization of agriculture broke that promise by consolidating farms, monocropping, confining livestock, destroying much of the agroecology, and abandoning rural communities. The third promise is how to restore the promise which details how agricultural communities learned to farm in a more thoughtful and sustainable manner. Through the narrative story of the farmer and author, and using these promises as the framework, A Practical Farmer's Journey details how to combat climate change in agriculture and how to create healthier farms and food systems to restore the unfulfilled promise of rural America.