Animal ID compelling, not convincing
When the USDA announced the discovery of the nation's first mad cow in late December 2003, consumers and ranchers were met by a government search-and-destroy blitz worthy of war.
Riding (and writing) the ethanol tiger
For years, farmers' hearts would leap when the word "ethanol" appeared in a newspaper headline. Now farmers almost dread it because they know the ensuing story is likely to outline the inevitable bust that awaits them if the current unplanned, willy-nilly ethanol boom continues.
Two words that will feed the 9 billion
Just before this weekly effort began 21 years ago this month, its two founders, the lovely Catherine and me, compiled a list of nearly...
Crop insurance: Flawed and fixable
Federally subsidized crop insurance is the elephant in the Farm Bill pantry and anyone who had any role in pushing the law through the zoo called Congress knows it.
Cotton ruling goes beyond the South
Columnist Alan Guebert says Brazil "kicked major U.S. farm trade butt" when it declared some American cotton subsidies as illegal.
Don’t count on U.S. ag exports to developing nations just yet
The second in a series from columnist Alan Guebert on developing world agriculture and its impact on U.S. farmers.
Farmers’ windfall is breath of fresh air
Standing atop the sweeping farm ridge 70 miles north of Berlin, the stiff wind off the Baltic Sea painted my cheeks apple red in minutes.
The days of buses, bullies and books
By mid-September, most children west of the Ohio have a month of the new school year already on the books.That means some young scholar...
$1.2 billion can buy ‘access’ to Congress, but not much else
What did individuals and political action committees believe they were buying when they contributed $755.1 million this election cycle to Republican and Democratic candidates for the U.S. House and $415.2 million to Republican and Democratic candidates to the U.S. Senate?
A sap shouting into the hurricane
Today’s barely functioning cash grain and livestock markets will soon be getting their price signals from the world’s largest single, for-profit, around-the-clock money, grain, meat and metals futures trading operation.
