Commentary

HSUS trash talk? Bring it on!

We need to get ready for the coming HSUS battle. Their war chest is deep and their p.r. machine is slick. Issue 2 was a cake walk compared to what’s coming.

26 Comments

The law of averages and cheap food

Our most basic need is food — we can’t alive without it — and we want to spend less money to buy it.

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Sustainability + farm productivity = future

When it comes to farming, why don’t we see more sentences with the words “sustainable” and “productivity” in them? They are the only things that will keep food on all our tables.

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Global energy policy like cheap food?

Economists like the markets to fix the world’s ills, so maybe that’s why so many of them back the cap-and-trade solution to greenhouse gas reduction. After all, why not use market signals to motivate action? I’m a free trader at heart and supporter of the market economy, but I’m not convinced cap and trade will [...]

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Farmers, are you asking the right questions?

You are not alone. Whether or not you realize it, you have a team — your vet, your lender, your extension educator, your nutritionist, your friends, and even another farmer you respect. Ask them the right questions and challenge them to ask you good ones in return.

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Broadband access: We have to bridge the digital divide

If we dropped Congress in the middle of a no-access zone, how quickly do you think we’d have broadband Internet access nationwide?

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Obama school speech furor: You can tell it was a slow news day

“Parents, if you want to worry about what’s going on in our public schools, you’ve got a lot more to be concerned about than our president attempting to encourage your child to get an education.”

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Soul-less agriculture is a myth

I’ve had it. Just when I thought I could stop preaching about the importance of food and agriculture and sharing our message, another slanted, “we’re going to hell in a handbasket and it’s all farmers’ fault” piece came out in a major magazine. Time published its article, “Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap [...]

2 Comments

Today’s ag progress and farm science

We can’t continue to make ag progress — scientific or technological progress — unless we confront the role of public opinion in today’s agriculture.

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Ohio State Fair: In the end, it’s not about winning

When Branden DeFrank of Jefferson County entered the ring at the Ohio State Fair Sale of Champions with his grand champion steer, he was joined by two youth holding banners. I recognized one teen as Branden’s sister, Kyleigh, who showed the grand champion at last year’s Ohio State Fair. Then, Kyle Sharp, editor of Ohio’s [...]

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Reality check: We need large farms

Farming doesn’t need to be just small or large, just organic or conventional, just black or white. There’s room at the table for all. But unless we face the agricultural realities, there might not be any food on that table.

1 Comment

Walmart pushes sustainability index

Walmart threw its global shoulder into a sustainability product index initiative last week. Forget cap-and-trade legislation, ignore international commissions. Follow the smiley face instead.

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Just in case you missed it…

… People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) wanted to bring 3,500 1-gallon buckets of pig manure and urine to the Ohio Statehouse for a recent protest. Oh, and fans, too, so the activists could direct the wafting smells into bystanders’ faces. Um, no, the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board wisely said. The [...]

1 Comment

Water wars will impact us all

California is embroiled in a hot issue that affects agriculture, as well as everyday living — an issue that will affects us all sooner or later. Water.

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(I hope) there’s an ag activist in all of us

The creation of an Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board will mean the implementation of standards governing livestock and poultry production. But I would rather have those standards created by a body that understands production livestock agriculture than an entity that would like to abolish animal agriculture.

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Social media butterflies? Get over it

“Have you seen this?” The Twitter direct message from John Blue of Truffle Media asked. “Indiana Fair Oaks Farm video.” And it gave the link. A few minutes later, I read this message from David Brown (@tvfarmer) of Decatur, Ill.: “June issue of National Geographic, ‘The End of Plenty’ is a must read. The need [...]

1 Comment

Ag awareness: Let’s play small ball

As farmers and farm leaders struggle to figure out strategies to educate a growing farm-illiterate consumer population, maybe they should try small ball — methodically undertake individual efforts and be opportunistic, rather than swing for the fences.

1 Comment

Advice for life: Listen to your coach

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 [...]

0 Comments

We need a cure for U.S. health care

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 [...]

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

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.

2 Comments

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