Opinion pieces for Shaw Local
When I first joined Farm Bureau as a young farmer, my goal was simple: to make a positive impact and uplift the lives of my fellow farmers.
I think farm leaders are the masters of getting things done. On any given day, farmers wear any number of different hats and roles requiring many skills, ranging from agronomist to HR manager to operations manager to marketer.
Federal policymakers have a problem: Their hope to make corn and soybeans the feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel hit a wall when the aviation industry ruled biofuel from either crop did not meet its “sustainable” guidelines.
Several times over the past few weeks I’ve been approached by a friendly stranger. They wanted to know if I would comment on an issue and sign my name in support or opposition.
It has become customary this time of year for me to offer up some advice in this column with soon-to-be-newly-minted high school and college graduates.
When the alarm goes off at 3 o’clock in the morning, volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians answer the call. They roll out of bed, pull on their clothes and speed to the fire station.
We’ve had a cold winter across a lot of our state, and I am enjoying spring and all the opportunities the new season brings for family fun and good food.
Did the reaction to COVID-19 change the way you communicate? I have asked that question several times since March 2020, when the world as we knew it rocked on its axis for a bit.
From iron plows to driverless tractors, new ideas and innovative businesses have continually pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in farming.
Have you seen the movie “Field of Dreams”? In the movie, Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice to build a “totally illogical” baseball field where his cornfield used to be.
If the third time is a charm, Michael Happ might finally make an impression on federal lawmakers and administrators with his fact-filled, 24-page report on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s continued financing of Big Ag’s big manure habit.
Spring is a time of planning, planting and new growth on the farm. From preparing to plant seeds for the next crop to tending trees freshly in bloom, farmers are working hard to ensure strong yields in the months ahead.
I have the tremendous opportunity to work with some of the greatest employees in government and we have the pleasure to work for the American farmer — the original environmentalist, who cares for the land like no other.
There’s not a day that goes by, when farmers aren’t thinking about how to leave the land better than we found it.
Each year, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri and its collaborators put together a baseline projection for the U.S. and world ag sectors for the major grains, oilseeds, biofuels, livestock and dairy commodities.