February was a paradox. Leap Year or not, it’s the shortest month of the year, yet it always feels like the longest month of winter. Endless grey skies bleed into endless grey days into an almost endless grey month. Then March appears with its light, colour and hope, and February’s dreariness is soon forgotten. Light, […] Read more
Author Archives
U.S. trade deals receive weak review
After the White House announced its twin trade triumphs, the passage of NAFTA 2.0 and phase one of a multi-phase deal with China, readers emailed to suggest I should write a column on — to quote two of them — the “absolutely amazing trade deals” “only President Trump” could have done. Before I pass judgment […] Read more
U.S. milk shakeup just the beginning
While many in the United States dairy sector focus on why the nation’s largest milk bottler, Dean Foods, filed for bankruptcy Nov. 12, the smart money — if there is any smart money left after four years of crushingly low milk prices — is focused on what’s next. What’s next is what’s always next when […] Read more
Agriculture faces a heart transplant
If government and private estimates are accurate, hundreds of millions of American farm acres will have new owners in the next 15 years. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s survey takers and record keepers predict that 100 million acres of today’s farmland will be sold by its current owners by 2023. The American Farmland […] Read more
Farm groups often worry about science only when it suits
I once wrote a column on how farm groups sternly preached the value of what they reverently called “sound science” but, in fact, usually endorsed only “science that sounds good” to the groups. I noted most of that good-sounding science was “science” tied to research bought-and-paid-for by the groups themselves. This tactic continues to confuse, […] Read more
U.S. farm aid covers up policy failure
You know you’re deep in the rabbit hole when bad news — say, a government report that shows steep cuts in anticipated 2019 crop yields — is good news because it will hopefully boost prices. Conversely, when good news arrives, like an unexpected week of perfect September weather, it’s actually bad news because it just […] Read more
‘Meatless meat’ no threat to ranchers
P.T. Barnum, the quintessential American showman, might have found today’s food carnival more interesting and far more profitable than his namesake circus of yore. For example, slow food is taking note of the fast rise of meatless, or plant-based, burgers this year. Veggie burgers, their previous incarnation, are not new; the lovely Catherine has been […] Read more
A changing market: Chinese farmers grow soy in Russia
Ag Twitter had a big sandbox to play in after the United States Department of Agriculture clobbered the agricultural futures markets Aug. 12 with its number-filled Crop Report and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates. The updated numbers — planted acreage, estimated production, and projected usage — hit the market like a hailstorm. Corn […] Read more
USDA under fire for new attack on domestic food aid program
You know it’s going to be a long, hot summer if, on the day before you assume the political leadership of the United Kingdom — as Boris Johnson did on July 23 — one of the world’s most authoritative newspapers, the New York Times, prints a column that begins with the phrase, “Boris Johnson, to […] Read more
Mother Nature always bats last
Call it what you will — coincidence, chance or just bad luck — but on the very day that United States President Donald Trump defended his administration’s almost indefensible record on the environment, the Washington, D. C., metro area was deluged by rain not seen since Noah. In fact, so much rain fell so fast […] Read more
