Climate Change

A shortage of food and energy should be coming sooner than later. I fully expect the final quarter of this year and into late 2025 to be a period marked by rising prices for those two basic markets.

Bipartisan legislation that creates the Healthy Soils Initiative and commits to improved coordination between the Illinois Department of Agriculture and Soil and Water Conservation Districts was signed into law.

To ancient Greeks and Romans, the “dog days of summer” began when Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major — Latin for “big dog” — “appears to rise alongside the sun.”

Well before it was warm enough to plant seedlings in the ground, farmer Micah Barritt began nursing crops like watermelon, eggplant and tomatoes — hoping for a bountiful fall harvest.

The late May to late June period this year was the driest and warmest in history for the United States. It was far worse than what was experienced in 2012, when grain prices rose sharply during the growing season.

Long before presidential campaigns cost a billion dollars and the Capitol Hill press corps obsessed daily over who’s up and who’s down, Congress worked together to resolve controversial national issues.

Winter cover crops could cut nitrogen pollution in Illinois’ agricultural drainage water up to 30%, according to recent research from the University of Illinois.

In my 10th year leading National 4-H Council, the nonprofit partner to Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Program, I’m reflecting on the significant role 4-H plays in preparing a diverse workforce in agriculture.

The Southwest continues to endure a “megadrought,” a term used to describe drought conditions lasting at least two decades.

In the final book of his “Annals of the Former World” anthology, writer John McPhee tackles the geology and geography of the still-young, barely holding-together Golden State. His title, like his writing, is brilliant: “Assembling California.”

I can think of no better way to kick off the spring season than by celebrating the hard work and commitment of America’s farm and ranch families. We are proud to grow the safe and sustainable food, fiber and renewable fuel we all rely on.

Illinois farmers traveled to Washington to tell Congress that the next farm bill must be a climate bill.

Indiana Farm Bureau’s priorities for the 2023 Indiana General Assembly will focus on four general topic areas: rural viability, energy policy, taxes and food security.

Bruce Rastetter, Iowa’s longtime agricultural and political power center, has a sixth sense when it comes to making money.

Many policy choices are made on politics alone while other key decision-making elements like cost, science and even common sense play a lesser or no role at all.