USDA old guard fights new ideas

Although Barack Obama has been president but a few days we can already say with certainty – unlike before his inauguration – that he cannot fly, leap tall buildings or walk on water. Those feats, however, are chopped liver compared to cracking the good old boy cabal at the U. S. Department of Agriculture. So

U. S. farmers get another governor

If conventional leadership and bureaucratic competency had a face, it would look exactly like Thomas J. Vilsack: round as an apple pie, chin disappearing under sagging cheeks, greying (and amply present) hair. President-elect Barack Obama’s selection of Vilsack, the two-term (1998-2006) Iowa governor, to lead the U. S. Department of Agriculture marks the third non-farming


USDA nominee Vilsack impresses lawmakers

U. S. Senator Herb Kohl on Jan. 7 said he was impressed with Tom Vilsack, president-elect Barack Obama’s choice to head the U. S. Agriculture Department, and expected the former Iowa governor to be confirmed easily by the Senate. “I’m confident this will be a man who will do his job very well,” Kohl, a

Rich U. S. farmers cash in

Too many rich farmers continue to receive U. S. farm subsidies in spite of income caps designed to restrict their participation, and the Agriculture Department needs to do more to enforce the rules, the auditing arm of Congress said on Nov. 25. More than 2,700 people whose gross income topped $2.5 million – making many


What U. S. farmers need from Obama

”We’ve got too many countries that are not interested in increasing trade flows.” Bo Stallman U. S. farmers and ranchers are anxious about the economic outlook for the farm sector and need access to credit and ways to hedge their risks, the head of the largest farm group said on Nov. 4. Bob Stallman, president