Farm & Food File
A syndicated column by Alan Guebert
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The Old Economics of New Agriculture: Drive or Be Driven
Posted on October 11, 2021
A recent, number-laden bulletin posted on the University of Illinois website farmdoc daily caught my attention for two reasons.
First, its data, drawn mostly from several U.S. Census of Agriculture, paints a troubling picture of U.S. agriculture today. More importantly, that picture suggests American ag policy needs to make “strategic” changes to meet new challenges–climate change and new […]
Hold the Sickle, CRP Needs a New, Bigger Hammer
Posted on September 23, 2021
To say the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) biggest environmental program, the Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP, is at a crossroads is like saying climate change might be a problem.
After all, the phrase “climate change” understates today’s dilemma until, for example, you learn that 47 percent of the continental U.S. is now in drought, 2.7 […]
First USDA Quick Fix: CRP Expansion and Reform
Posted on January 27, 2021
On his way out the door last month, former House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, just off a hammering reelection defeat, offered the nation one final idea: the incoming secretary of agriculture should be empowered to enroll up to 50 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) over the next five years.
Yes, 50—as […]
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If you’re a farmer and feel good about your water use, read the retweets to get some idea how your customers, the public, view it. https://t.co/WvSpS8coAg
Thesis: My home state doesn’t have more criminals in state gov’t than any other state. The difference is IL catches and convicts them while other states don’t. Prove me wrong. https://t.co/Np1FWPtSYF
GMO pushers never let a crisis go to waste when there’s a dollar to made and a new market to conquer during war, famine, flood, or drought. https://t.co/7JcTZyMsRL
A preview of House Ag Committee agenda under GOP after Nov. election and a great recipe to return to 1990, not prepare for 2030. https://t.co/GGPEFYWIKf
‘Autonomous’ meaning ‘without people.’ So farms without farmers, communities without community and ‘systems,’ not people. This is a factory, not a farm. Let’s at least say that before the cheerleading gets too loud to hear it. https://t.co/vSgZASsD9U