Ethanol policy is not all politics
In the run-up to the Nov. 7 election, any candidate worth a baby-kissing pucker instantly, enthusiastically and repeatedly took the ethanol pledge.
It’s here: September’s colorful call
The glowing orange tops of two nearby maples are the first clear announcement that change, despite the day's drilling heat and shirt-soaking humidity, is coming.
Wardrobe, and budget, dysfunction
White House competes with Justin Timberlake for biggest whopper of the year, says columnist Alan Guebert.
Suppose you support reform
Suppose the House Ag Committee asks you to come to Washington to offer your ideas on how to improve the Farm Bill for its...
USDA makes effort to politicize local FSA offices; your seat may be open
In what many are calling a power grab, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman used authority given the USDA in the 2002 Farm Bill to propose new guidelines that alter the composition and shorten the terms of locally-elected county Farm Service Agency (FSA) committees.
Broken promises of rural development
It happened again the other week at a local public forum on agriculture.
The panel of speakers included me, two farmers and a state Farm Bureau economist.
Farm bill 2007: Stop, look and listen
August is the month public officials traditionally use your tax dollars to travel to gather information, ideas and frequent flier miles they claim will help them serve you better.
While I can’t do math, I can read
If you asked unimpeachable sources such as St. Peter or former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee why so many pretty average people often choose...
Having a beef with Ohio’s checkoff, where cattle will vote … sort of
According to Chicago legend, a tombstone somewhere in the city reads: "John Smith, Born 1934, Died 1981, Voted 1984, 1988, 1992". What makes the...
A sap shouting into the hurricane
One fine spring evening 35 or so years ago, I rang the doorbell of the home of the young lady I intended to ask...
