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"Flyover Country'' is a derogatory phrase that refers to a place supposedly not worth visiting, so just fly over it. Urban residents use it to minimize and ridicule rural areas in which many Agweek readers (and this retired Agweek columnist) live and work. By using it, the urban residents show how little they think of us.

In my experience, though, their attitude isn't so much out-and-out disrespect as it is a shortage of interest and knowledge. I could give multiple examples, but let's go with this one:

It was an agricultural insurance conference in Fargo, N.D., the state's largest city, attended by both area and expert speakers and farmers. Most of the latter came from small towns in the Dakotas and Minnesota. Sitting in the row ahead of me were three farmers I recognized, all from towns of fewer than 500 people.

Then the next speaker, a government official from Washington, D.C., began talking, opening with "I really enjoy getting into the small towns." He smiled broadly, clearly wanting to be seen as a good guy. And probably he was, but he came across to me and some others at the conference as out of touch and even a little condescending. "Hey, Mr. Speaker, you think Fargo is a small town? Well, you know a lot about crop insurance, but your awareness of small towns is sadly lacking."

Most of us in Flyover Country are here voluntarily. We value our way of life and prefer it to the lifestyle we'd have in a major urban area. A lot of our rural charms are small things, stuff like lilacs coming out in spring. We're closer to nature and live a little less artificially, or so it seems to me.

The downside is that our rural areas generally offer fewer cultural opportunities; our limited population simply can't support more. And we generally don't have the range and scope of job opportunities found in urban areas.

I emphasize that numerous residents of Agweek's coverage area work hard and successfully to provide cultural and practical amenities. An example: My home town of McVille, N.D., has a terrific public library. Among other virtues, it offers online access to books and magazines — a service I gratefully utilize myself.

Two more top-of-my-head examples, which like McVille are in North Dakota's Nelson County: Aneta offers a wonderful community garden. Pekin has a strong arts presence. Pretty good for Flyover Country. There are many other examples; please drop me a line if you're involved with one.

I used to think that the disparity between what's offered in rural and urban areas is neither good nor bad. It just is. I've changed my mind over time, realizing that the differences between urban and rural life provide choice — and that's a good thing.

Yeah, it can be annoying when we hear terms like Flyover Country. In all truth, though, we take our share of shots at urban life. I suppose it evens out. (Let's try to stay reasonably classy when we dish out our cracks. Cheap shots at our urban brethren may be emotionally satisfying, but they do more harm than good.)

What really matters is to remember and value why we live here. The strengths may be small individually — lilacs in bloom — but they give meaning and purpose to our lives nonetheless.

Regular readers of this column, all five or six of you, know that this spring I wrote about my much-younger brother, Paul, who gave up a good, stable job to return to run our family farm in McVille. Farming is going well. He sounds and looks happier, and seems confident he made the right decision. And I greatly enjoy talking with him about farm matters.

He's used some of his limited free time to continue to drive me to medical appointments for my cancer and other health ailments. Thanks, Paul. And kudos to other relatives and friends, especially my retired sister and brother-in-law, for driving me to appointments. I'd name each of my wonderful helpers, but most are too humble to want public recognition So I'll stick with blanket gratitude. Thank you, all.

Yes, people help each other here in Flyover Country. They help each other in urban areas, too. of course. So maybe we have more in common than we realize.

Jonathan Knutson is a former Agweek reporter. He grew up on a farm and spent his career covering agriculture. He can be reached at packerfanknutson@gmail.com.