Commentary

Advice for life: Listen to your coach

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 by Susan Crowell

Dear Jon,

Coach T. was right: Every game, every football season, has peaks and valleys.
You heard it in the locker room every Friday night for the last four years. You play through the pain and the losses and the frustrations of the valleys because you know if you try hard enough, if you keep working, […]

We need a cure for U.S. health care

Thursday, May 14, 2009 by Susan Crowell

On May 11, President Barack Obama declared, “I will not rest until the dream of health care reform is achieved in the United States of America.”
It is a vow rural America sincerely hopes the president can fulfill.
It won’t be easy — nearly 50 million people in rural America are either uninsured, have limited coverage or […]

Explaining H1N1 virus origin is difficult, protecting you and livestock is not

Thursday, May 7, 2009 by Susan Crowell

I’m sure we have not heard the last of the H1N1 virus or related gene reassortments. But it’s not the time to panic. It’s the time to use your head and common sense.

HSUS: Fools, and Limbaugh, rush in

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 by Susan Crowell

He calls himself “America’s No. 1 Truth Detector,” but conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh must not have researched the Humane Society of the United States very well before he recorded two “statements of support” for the animal rights lobbying organization.
The first public service announcement lauds the HSUS effort to bust dog fighting rings […]

If we can hang on, ag outlook is solid because we ‘build things’

Thursday, April 9, 2009 by Susan Crowell

I love the 1990 fairy tale movie Pretty Woman that stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts (although I admit a prostitute is not standard fare in fairy tales). One of the turning points in the movie is when Gere’s character — a corporate take-over specialist who buys companies on paper and dismantles them for profit […]

The three R’s of the HSUS agenda

Thursday, April 2, 2009 by Susan Crowell

Last month, we published an article about a meeting key Ohio agriculture leaders had with Wayne Pacelle and a team from the Humane Society of the United States, or HSUS.
The HSUS visited Ohio to let us know the Buckeye State is on its radar for legislation or a ballot initiative to ban confinement housing of […]

Tell a farmer ‘thank you.’ Today.

Thursday, March 19, 2009 by Susan Crowell

Above: Note from a Farm and Dairy reader

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler was eating lunch with some staff members at a local restaurant recently when a woman walked by, laid a napkin on his table, and kept on walking to the cash register.
“I picked up the napkin and noticed she had written a note […]

You can’t keep a good farm man (or woman) down

Thursday, March 12, 2009 by Susan Crowell

Hamilton County’s Bobby Burwinkel has some fun behind a podium at the USDA. A future U.S. Secretary of Agriculture perhaps?

With all the economic doom and gloom and agricultural uncertainty, it’s one thing to want to hear from the industry’s leaders, but what about the tomorrow’s leaders, or the next generation? Do they plan to be […]

Farm stress: Your today will define tomorrow

Thursday, March 5, 2009 by Susan Crowell

Even on the most difficult days, farmers need to step up to the plate believing that what they do matters, because it does. That belief, that optimism, and even a little forced enthusiasm will be enough to lift you.

When will you tire of the other voices and speak out for agriculture?

Thursday, February 26, 2009 by Susan Crowell

The horn of plenty needs tooting. And you are obligated to do some of it.