Farm & Food File
A syndicated column by Alan Guebert
Reader Mail
‘Why are you giving extreme voices so much attention?’
Posted on January 22, 2021
The last column of the year usually features comments from readers whose views differ from those found here the previous 50 or so weeks. Most point out, often in vivid language, the shortcomings of my ideas, opinions, and—increasingly—the “fake news” I peddle through both.
At least that’s how it has been for at least 25 […]
“I Should’ve Known You Were a Partisan Hack”
Posted on July 23, 2020
One of the oldest sayings in journalism reminds readers and writers alike that “It’s hard to argue with facts.”
True, but readers of this weekly effort often rise to the challenge in their letters and emails to me. Most mix “new” or “alternative” (thank you, Kellyanne) facts with their opinion to point out the […]
“Get Rid of This Guy”
Posted on January 19, 2020
When readers of this weekly effort take the time to write me a letter or email, it’s a safe bet they want to have the final word on whatever riled them to write. I’m fine with that.
In fact, because of their remarkable diligence, I turn this space over to reading writers every June […]
Writers Write, Readers Read, and, Often, Readers Write
Posted on July 17, 2019
Writers write and readers read and, always to this writer’s pleasant surprise, readers often write. Most letters and emails are either complimentary or inquisitive. More than a few, however, come nowhere near complimentary and some, in fact, are quite, ah, declarative.
For example, 2019 was just three days old when the editor of an Indiana […]
Ag Has Bigger Problems Than Weather, Trade, Bailouts…
Posted on July 10, 2019
When you’ve been in the ag journalism game for almost 40 years, few things surprise you. Floods, droughts, market crack-ups, political crockery, price fixing: none of it is shocking anymore.
And, yet, on June 21, the Washington Post published a farm-based story that made even this graybeard marvel at how tone deaf and superior-sounding rural politics has […]
“Fair and Balanced” Reader Mail Round-Up
Posted on January 17, 2019
Tweeter-in-Chief, President Donald J. Trump, has been quite clear in his opinion of CNN, the cable television news network. Indeed, Trump’s despise of the network—he thinks its initials stand for Certainly Not News—encourages supporters to use “CNN” as a slander.
For example, when a reader of this weekly effort sends an email that includes the sentence […]
Readers Can Write, Too
Posted on July 19, 2018
There’s an art and elegance to letter writing that electronic communication—email, texting, direct messaging, Twitter, and other ethereal forms—simply can’t capture. The biggest difference is also its most ironic: paperless communication encourages brevity and emphasizes urgency.
Why, I wonder, is there a weight restriction on email? NNTR. (No need to reply.)
Still, most reader letters do, in […]
Catcalls and House Calls
Posted on January 31, 2018
It’s entirely likely that I will anger people from Delaware to Montana any given week with nothing more than an idea, supporting facts, and a couple of barrels of ink. Spurring anger takes no special talent; it’s me, remember? Still, every week dissimilar people 2,000 miles apart send me amazingly similar emails.
For example, one emailer, […]
“Done Reading Your Rubbish”
Posted on July 31, 2017
Six months may have passed since readers last got their say in this space but nothing during that time has mellowed their views of this effort, the words they use to explain those views, and some of their more colorful suggestions on where they think I should store my ink pens.
For example, a March column […]
“Mooey Christmas”
Posted on January 4, 2017
As this thinly-priced farm year and deeply bitter election year glides toward its inevitable end, readers continue to pack my email inbox with sugar-coated compliments and napalm-encased invective.
Sometimes this polar divide is showcased by comments on the same column and, sometimes, these warmly complimentary/on-fire angry emails even arrive the same day. This past summer, however, […]