The early morning of Kansas State, when the sunlight shone through the slightly damp air, there was a hazy glow floating in the air.
When the golden light fell on the land, a distant sound came from the wind. Just as the last bit of chill vanished in the wind, the footsteps of spring brought forward a gentle whisper, announcing to the hardworking human race on this vast land that spring tillage was about to begin.
Several young residents of Kent Farm got up early. The sun had just risen above the horizon and everyone was already rushing to pack up.
Before dawn, the rumbling sound of tractors followed the spring thunder from the night before. The farmhand's raucous laughter came from the main house not far away. Clark pushed open the wooden door and, from the damp air, smelled the aroma of Martha's thick soup.
Clark was about to step out when he suddenly pulled his leg back and turned to the people behind him, saying, "Don't come out yet. The pebbles outside are a bit loose. Bruce, get me a shovel. I need to press them down."
With a whoosh, a shovel flew over. Clark instinctively reached out to catch it. When he looked up, he saw Diana's face. He was a bit surprised and raised an eyebrow. The force with which the shovel was thrown was not light.
Diana revealed a big smile and said, "I know you take pride in your strength, boy, but I'm not too shabby myself."
Clark laughed while walking outside with the shovel, remarking, "I knew you wanted to spar with me. You Amazons are all the same, constantly wanting to prove your strength."
"That's not necessarily bad. At least, while we plant crops today, you'll have a good helper." Diana shrugged and picked up a shovel to help Clark flatten the pebbles at the door.
Bruce, who just woke up, stood at the door a bit lost. He peered outside and then said, "There seem to be a lot more people on the farm. What are they here for?"
"Of course, they are here to help with the farm work." Clark replied cheerfully.
At the same time, Bruce and Diana fixed their eyes on him, both wearing disagreeing expressions. Clark sighed helplessly, "What are you thinking? I'm not an evil landlord exploiting peasants!"
"Kent Farm has long been operating on large-scale mechanized farming. No one personally tills the land. But because of this large-scale standardization, we need many professionals to help complete spring plowing."
"Firstly, we need an agricultural consultant. They provide knowledge and technical support. They are not experts themselves, but they know where to find the most reliable experts."
"These experts collect soil from Kent Farm, take it back to the lab for testing, analyze our soil condition, and determine the most suitable crops to plant and when to do it."
"We also need a procurement broker to take care of all commercial matters. After getting a professional report from the expert, they will help analyze what seeds are the most cost-effective. They know which farms have previously cultivated excellent varieties and received good yields."
"Then they need to contact seed merchants, go to the farm equipment market, or second-hand trading market to purchase the farming tools needed this year."
"Additionally, we have a government consultant. They help us resolve policy-related issues. They inform us about any new policy benefits for farmers this year, if there are changes in agricultural regulations or new standards for harvesting and processing agricultural products."
"Lastly, my father personally took charge of the sales channels for agricultural products and introduced our high-quality products to various suppliers."
"And of course, that's not all. We also have some technical consultants and technical workers. In agriculture, we have experts in pesticide spraying, volunteers for natural reserve forests, in animal husbandry, veterinarians for animal check-ups, and breeding specialists responsible for breeding."
Clark listed them all, spread out his hands, and said, "In modern agriculture, almost all physical labor has been replaced by machines. However, in contrast, there is a great demand for knowledgeable and technical personnel."
"The sound of a tractor you heard this morning is the seedplanter we hired; there's no way we could plow such a large field ourselves? Even if we were operating the tractor 24 hours a day, it would not be possible."
"The time for spring tillage is extremely valuable. We have to start planning right after it rains, waiting for the moisture of the soil to reach the right level, then we start sowing immediately, making the best use of these precious few days to scatter all the seeds."
"So we're going to work with these seed planters today?" Bruce asked.
Clark shook his head and said, "No, this year is a bit special. We can have our own plot of land, and I can take you guys to farm. Wait until the harvest season and then we can harvest together."
Clark threw the shovel to Diana, who put it back in the house. Then he gestured to the pair and said, "Let's go. Let's take a look at that plot."
As Clark turned to leave, he sighed, "It's a pity Lois is busy with work. She's used up her annual leave and has to go back to work now."
Diana teased with a laugh, "You could just ask me directly, 'Does she regret leaving'? I can tell you, yes, she does. Especially leaving you."
Standing by the roadside, Clark coughed lightly and covered his mouth with his fist, stuttering, "It has… nothing to do with me."
After a while, Diana and Bruce had changed into waterproof boots. Clark took some small flags, an ax, and a roll of hemp rope in his hand, and the three started to venture deeper into Kent Farm.
The entire farm wasn't large from the aerial view, because all of the surroundings were large farms. But if you actually walk around, it's like climbing an endless mountain. It took the three of them over half an hour to finally reach the destination Clark had mentioned.
Heading east along the ridges, they entered the natural reserve area of Kent farm, following a path, and after winding around, they reached an open area reminiscent of an untouched paradise.
One side of this area was bordered by forest, and wind-breaking plants occupied the remaining two sides, making it appear like a fenced garden. Yet, its actual area was still large, with their view of the far windbreak plants almost disappearing into the horizon.
This piece of land seemed a bit different from others. The significant difference was its ground, which looked a bit disheveled with no obvious traces of tractor plowing, unlike the other farmlands.
"This used to be the vegetable garden of the farm," said Clark while stepping inside and gesturing towards the land. "But last spring, our sheep fell ill. My parents were too occupied with the vet to solve the infection problem and didn't have the energy to tend to the farm."
"By the time they noticed, they had missed the best sowing season. This patch of land remained vacant. My dad suggested planting some late sowing crops, but my mom thought it's better to fallow the land."
"Fallow?" Bruce asked with confusion.
"To rotate crops." Clark, looking around for something while speaking, explained, "The fertility of the land is a gift from nature. But this gift isn't constant. Plants absorb nutrients from the soil, and if the same crop is continuously sown, fertility degrades, leading to decreased yield."
"That's why we don't cultivate all the land at the same time. We allow areas to fallow in rotation to restore their fertility. Currently, only about two-thirds of Kent Farm is cultivated, the rest is in a fallow period, similar to the fishing off-season."
"Last year I couldn't sow in time, so my mother decided to abandon this farmland and open a new one elsewhere. This year, they decided to continue farming the new patch."
"However, I think this piece of land is quite fertile. After it was left bare for a year, and it's almost restored now. It would be a waste to leave it empty, so I thought we might as well plant something."
Bruce and Diana exchanged glances. Neither of them wanted to ask the apparently silly question, yet finally, Diana asked, "So, what do we plant, and how do we do it?"
Before Clark could answer, Diana held out two hands and gestured, stating, "Amazon is mainly based on hunting, we also grow crops, but those are mostly herbs."
"Our cultivation method consists of burning an area and then sprinkling seeds into it. We don't water them or use pesticides; it's all in the hands of nature. Whatever grows, grows. So, don't expect me to provide any constructive advice."
Turning to Clark, Bruce also voiced, "Don't look at me either. I have next to no knowledge about agriculture. You guys know Gotham isn't suitable for planting. Just like the people there, plants end up either dying or going mad."
Clark sighed heavily, "That's precisely why I brought you guys to practice on this small piece of land. If I let you guys directly manage the large farm plot, I guarantee you wouldn't even be able to handle the tractor."
"What's so hard about driving a tractor?" Diana sneered, stating, "Isn't it just a bit more complicated than a car? My driving skills aren't too shabby."
Clark gave her a roll of his eyes, but also didn't bother to argue. He then found a fallen small tree in the nearby forest, chopped the trunk into several pieces, and split the stumps into thinner sticks.
Next, he stuck the wooden sticks around the land's perimeter and tied flags on top of the sticks using hemp rope. Having finished, he clapped his hands and stated, "Okay, this will be our test field. Planting regular vegetables require pretty much the same method. We first need to get a tractor."
"Why do we need to get the tractor first?" Bruce, trailing behind Clark, questioned. "Shouldn't we first decide what type of plants to grow? Then choose the seeds?"
"Because we have to wrestle to obtain a good tractor first." Clark's pace quickened as he explained, "The hired seed sowers each have their own tractors, but some who don't own one need to use ours."
"We have four tractors in total, but they are of different ages. Do you want a throwback to the glory of Germany's industrial era in my grandfather's time?"
Bruce paused momentarily, he darted a glance at Diana before finally grabbing Clark's arm. "Fly there. I want the newest one."
Clark turned back in surprise. He glanced at Diana, Bruce gave a cough before also setting his gaze on Diana, who held her hands up, stepping back, and stated, "Okay, I definitely didn't see you fly up to kiss the wild geese yesterday."
"I wasn't kissing the wild geese!" Clark raised his voice, sounding a bit angry, but quickly returned to resignation: "Bat Cat went into the dream of the wild geese to fight crime, causing two of them to suddenly fall while flying. I had to send them back up."
Then Clark realized that he had said too much. He gave Bruce a bit of a glare before turning back to Diana, opening his mouth to give an explanation.
Diana folded her arms across her chest. Noticing both men staring at her, she snorted disdainfully, stating, "You guys really think it's a big deal to fly?"
Right after she finished speaking, under Clark's astonished gaze, the black-haired princess launched into the air.
Diana's figure outlined a smooth arc in the sky, gliding like a fish swimming in water. Amidst her flowing hair, the gleam in her eyes shone brighter than the dawn light.