For over 20 years Jackie served as the main field hand on the big dairy farm of my youth. He possessed a hired man’s respect for talk; he talked only when talked to and then, most times, in a collection of southern Illinois’ phrases that carried more code than context. For example, once my father
Happy hogs and right smart marketing
American Homestead Act Celebrates 150 Years
Already deeply engaged in a bloody war, a young, untested president did not hesitate when Congress delivered legislation that might spark a new beginning for a tiring nation. When Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act of 1862 he sent a clear signal to all Americans that he believed the Union would endure and it would
Prices Are Good. Don’t Worry, Be Happy
So corn is rockin north of $7, beans are toyin with $14, cattle look to be headed to who-knows-where, wheat prices for almost every variety are tall to really tall, and hogs, well, bacon is sellin for what steak used to. Wow, huh? And here are two more sweet words: land values. Second-quarter 2011 farmland
Let’s Feed Ourselves
Squeeze almost any official of almost any agbiz or farm group and the words “Feed the world” will cross their lips. The phrase is this century’s “Manifest Destiny,” a near-imperative, a cornerstone of our export-directed ag policy. But this ambition, according to the number-crunching crew in Daryll Ray’s ag shop at the University of Tennessee,
My Budget Plan: Annex Canada
Sure, Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has a 10-year plan to take this country back from the poor, the uninsured, the elderly, the hungry and all the unemployed who threaten to make America a warmer Iceland. But, I ask, does Mr. Ryan’s plan go far enough in reining in this
Forecast For March: Very, Very Hot
After hiring into the market newsletter biz 30 years ago, my new bosses informed me that I’d sink or swim on how well I learned either fundamental or technical market analysis. I had two weeks to master one. Since fundamental analysis centres on farm and ranch facts and figures and technical analysis relies on charts
Truth In Labelling
When a nearby national grocery chain hosted a beef sale last summer, this carnivore grabbed his chequebook and motored to the store’s meatcase as fast as the Exploder’s worn wheel bearings allowed. I was greeted with a ruby wave of shrink-wrapped beef loins sporting stickers that announced their Angus origins. Nowhere, however, could I find
One Plan, Three Men And 50 Years
When Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry and Fred Kirschenmann get together, conversation, laughter and ideas flow. Other than a closeness in age, the three appear to have little in common. Jackson is a PhD plant breeder and founder, in 1976, of The Land Institute, a Salina, Kansas non-profit organization dedicated to finding sustainable solutions to food’s
The “Level Playing Field” Of Trade
Some phrases just make the heart flutter. “Call the vet,” was one that always tripped my father’s ticker. “Level the playing field of trade,” has the same effect on me. Level the playing field of trade. Hmm, is it a negotiating strategy, a goal, an ideal? Wait a second: don’t I want an unlevel field
Flying For 79 Floors
Twice a week,New York Timescolumnist Thomas L. Friedman drives political and economic policy-makers into full rant on topics as opposite as global free trade (he loves it) and national industrial policy (he loves it, too). Kiss him or kick him, Friedman can turn a phrase. A current Friedmanism notes that “If you jump off the
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
