While funding for agricultural commodity programs and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program captures most of the attention during the development of and wrangling over the budget for the farm bill, this column is focused on the funding for agricultural research that is primarily carr…
Christmas would be much more enjoyable if it didn’t come at Christmastime.
GIPSA, the badly named, hard-working mule inside the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is on the move again over objections that the Trump Administration’s ongoing USDA reorganization will bury it—and other, less obscure parts of the department like the Economic Research Service—in new …
We have entered the season of gift giving and receiving.
Seed catalogs will soon be arriving, tempting us with vibrant photos or drawings and tantalizing descriptions. Following are some general guidelines in choosing seed for your flower beds or garden.
A friend recently complained to me that a fact initially reported in a developing news story was eventually proven incorrect as more information became available. He said that was “precisely why most people no longer trust the media.”
12/04/18 — The old joke is the three most important items in the grain market are China, China, and China. We have gotten tired of hearing it, but really much of the outlook for the market depends upon our export relationship with China, which recently has been rocked as China and the U.S. j…
Farm and trade groups expressed relief after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met and reportedly pledged to come together and end a trade war that’s been causing billions of dollars in lost sales for U.S. farmers and ranchers.
As a child, I lived under the iron-fisted rule of a totalitarian regime. Those who held authority over me constantly reinforced their draconian edicts with such phrases as, “Go ask your father!” and “Stop whining! You have to brush your teeth whether you like it or not!” and “Because I said …
Years ago, an enterprising neighbor operated a palm reading business from her home with just a secretary, fax machine, and telephone. Her business model was simple: After clients faxed their photocopied handprint and sent some form of payment (rumor had it was $20), our neighbor telephoned t…
My last few columns have been focused on life insurance and just how invaluable it can be as a financial tool to properly fund a well-rounded and complete estate plan. Specifically survivorship life insurance, as it by far provides the lowest cost means of guaranteeing the liquidity needed t…
This year we received 48 different plants from Proven Winners for this year’s trials. There were some truly outstanding cultivars but most of them performed quite well. Once again, we had a group of them planted in 16” containers, two liners per container. However, everything was planted in …
We sometimes associate cause and effect without knowing the real link, or as an academic buzz phrase has it, “correlation does not equal causation.” A quick search provides a humorous example. Did you know ice cream sales and shark attacks are highly correlated? While true in a broad sense, …
The onset of cold temperatures prompted me to write last time about adjusting wintertime calories for calves getting milk replacer. As the temperature drops, calves need more dietary energy to maintain body temperature while growing and thriving.
“I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask you,” a woman informed me one Sunday morning in church.
My Thanksgiving trip to my family’s home in Mississippi was fairly typical of a visit home — we spent a lot of the time working.
While much of the debate over the farm bill is focused on commodity, environmental, and nutrition policies, they are not the only issues that affect the quality of life in both rural and urban areas.
11/27/18 — Tensions between Russia and the West were increased as Russia detained and fired on three Ukraine ships in the Kerch Strait on the Black Sea Sunday, very close to Crimea. The U.S. and Europe are all crying foul, with Ukraine declaring martial law in some areas to prepare to defend…
This is a column about two of the most important things in Upper Midwest agriculture: the weather and soybeans. We’ll start with the former, end with the latter.
As this year’s harvest winds down, it might be tempting to just “square up the books” and get ready for another round next year. In fact, some of you may have already invested money towards the 2019 crop with early purchases of seed, fertilizer, or chemical. I think it is also important to i…
My wife and I edged our way down the long hallway at the back of the restaurant, past the bustling, smoke-filled kitchen with its blazing grill and the swinging doors where waitstaff sang out “Coming in!” as they pushed through. We reached a nondescript, unmarked doorway and whispered a secr…
“We don’t need any more canned green beans,” my husband announced from the kitchen.
McCrory Gardens at South Dakota State University in Brookings has been an All America Selections (AAS) Trial and Display gardens for many years and this year was no different. This year we had 11 entrees with their comparisons to evaluate. McCrory Gardens only evaluates seed grown ornamental…
November 11 marked 100 years since the end of World War I, which U.S. President Woodrow Wilson called “the war to end all wars.”
With 2018 Congressional elections in the rearview mirror, a look at the implications the results have for the farm bill is in order.
11/20/18 — While producers in the upper Midwest continue to struggle with harvest in a wet/cold fall, prices of most commodities are doing almost nothing other than crude oil — which just keeps going down. Crude has gone from $77/barrel to $54/barrel in just a little over a month, with the O…
All eyes will be on the U.S. and Chinese presidents when they meet in a couple weeks to see if they can find a pathway out of their current trade war and bring relief for US farm exports.
There has been a media blitz lately by the oil industry saying that ethanol demand has been unaffected by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rampant grants of Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) exemptions to small refineries. Recently, even some in the agriculture community have bought i…
At this time of the year we Americans traditionally pause to give thanks for our many blessings. This includes such things such as a voluminous variety of victuals, more televised football games than any nation on the planet and the fact that we won’t have to endure another election for anot…
It’s Thanksgiving week, so let’s be generous: The White House trade policy, marked by its heavy use of import tariffs and presidential tweets, continues to confound economists and trading partners alike.
Every February the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) releases a 10-year baseline projection of the production and utilization of key crops and livestock beginning with the marketing year that starts in the then-current year. In February 2018, the USDA agricultural projections we…
The first real cold snap of the season has just subsided as I write. Even though a warm stretch has followed, we know it’s not long before the mercury will drop and stay there for a while. We Dakotans always seem to adapt one way or the other. We dig out the winter clothes and make sure the …
We have entered the season associated with leftovers from large holiday meals.
The world is so full of realities that we can’t ignore. You don’t pay your electric bill? The utility company will turn off your lights. You don’t look before you back out of your driveway? Eventually, you’ll cause an accident. You ignore a weed problem in your field? Your yields will be lower.
11/13/18 — Our president has a way of attaching the phrase “Lyin’” in front of his opposition’s name, and perhaps it’s appropriate to attach the same to our old trade friend/foe China. For in the USDA report last week, China revised its corn (and wheat) stocks numbers to the point that world…
Many producers have started accessing this year’s silage, whether it was put in bunkers, bags or silos. Safety should be a top priority as silage piles are accessed.
Do you have a deepfreeze full of beef? That’s why beef marketing campaigns are not directed at you.
My wife and I recently attended a clandestine gathering that was limited to just a select few. You couldn’t attend this meeting unless you knew the secret password: lutefisk.
A week before American voters decided whether the mid-term elections would deliver a red wave or a blue wave, OpenSecrets.org, the non-partisan group that tracks money in politics, made a spot-on prediction: the biggest wave on Nov. 6 would be green.
Coming from a dairy background, I was well versed in livestock tracking — every birth was recorded, every breeding date, and when the animal may come back into heat. Along with those general livestock records, we were part of the Dairy Herd Improvement Association so every cow’s production w…
On a recent flight, I was pleasantly surprised by the built-in video screens with free movies in the seat backs.
Well, the 2018 elections are finally over. We basically have a year until the next election cycle starts in earnest — a year for us to breathe, a year for our leaders to come up with solutions to our problems without the pressure of an impending race.
11/06/18 — It’s election day, and many think the fate of the world lies on this election. But the truth is that it doesn’t, and even politicians can’t make too many stupid decisions even if they are elected. So for the most part, good decisions are made at the legislative level after proper …
The 2018 Farm Bill is being written in an intensely partisan environment. We see it in the campaign rallies, we see it in the ads on television, we see the results of partisanship in day to day interactions when neighbors are afraid to talk to each other if they are on opposite sides of the …
Some of you may remember Wendy’s popular advertising campaign – dating back to 1984 – when an elderly lady questioned the hamburger that arrived with a lot of bun and little meat, prompting her to ask: “Where’s the beef?”
While reviewing corn and soybean profitability from our 2017 South Dakota Annual Report, I am amazed at how the range of direct costs of production between the listed profitability groups have narrowed from the wide variance seen in past years. It would seem that the focus of controlling cos…
I gave the trip rope a mighty heave and the creaky steel-wheeled plow settled onto the ground like a rusty dinosaur skeleton sagging beneath its own weight. I engaged the John Deere A’s clutch and opened its throttle. The plow bit into the earth, flipping over muddy slabs that shone like fra…
