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There have been plenty of distractions over the last year on and off the farm. The farm bill that never was stirred speculation late into November; drought reaked havoc on much of the southwest; and the price of an acre of farmland has shot up 32 percent in Iowa over the last year. On this week's Field Notes, a look back at some of the big stories in agriculture in 2011.

Navigating food label messages as a consumer is simple enough, ignore them or believe them. A farmer’s response is something more like, ‘oh no, you didn’t.’ Hear what real farmers think about the messages that sell what they spend all year producing.

Missouri is home to almost 400 vineyards that employ thousands of agricultural workers who pick, crush and nurture grapes like the Norton, the official state grape. Around $60 million worth of Missouri wine is sold each year. Today on Field Notes, we ask an expert to taste a little of that wine. And then we take an inside view ofthe last harvest of the growing season for Les Bourgeois Winery, the third largest winery in the state. From the vineyard, it's on to the winery, where the grapes are destemmed, crushed, fermented and aged.

How much you are willing to pay for your favorite sandwich? If it has peanut butter in it, you may soon be recalculating. A looming shortage of U.S. peanuts is causing the price of peanut butter to soar. Even if you're willing to pay more for peanut butter, you should know what's driving up the cost of this American staple food. Listen to this episode of Fields Notes for the answer.