On the Great Plains, an aging farmer and his wife struggle to sell their produce amid an increase in frozen food manufacturing. The farmer must figure out how to avoid the fate of his neighbors, who were pushed out of business and into welfare dependence.

A starving man wandering the countryside finds solace in a young woman's cottage where she offers him food and rest. But when the young woman starts to behave as if the man is a threat, he must decide whether or not to live up to her fears.

A ranching family stays optimistic during tough times by remembers their good luck last summer when they persuaded a generous rancher to work on his farm.

Two men down on their luck form a surprising friendship and enact a get-rich-quick scheme.

A mother struggles to provide her daughter with comfort in an unstable home as her husband constantly searches for new employment.

A married couple tries to make ends meet for their hungry and sick children in the midst of the Depression but soon realize that sheer willpower cannot save them from the ruthless winter.

A peasant woman's life of hardship after a marriage without a dowry portion means she'll do anything to ensure her cruel, miserly husband produces a portion for their beautiful daughter.

A man reflects on the loneliness of his childhood home, where his family would fervently clean the house every Saturday for guests on Sunday who would never show.

A middle-aged man and his wife struggle to fight the cold, care for their kids, and maintain their marriage as they build a house on a ranch in Washington state during several years filled with set backs and heartache.

As the era of American farming comes to an end, it proves more difficult than expected for one young man to convince an old woman that she should leave the land for more fruitful prospects.