Opinion

Every preelection poll for the U.S. presidential race saw it as a too-close-to-call nail-biter. Not one predicted the sweeping victory posted by former, now President-elect Donald Trump.

As farmers and ranchers, our work is never just about getting the job done, but looking for the best practices and embracing innovation for whatever challenges may lie ahead.

There are winners and losers in every election. It is our collective responsibility to find a way forward, regardless of whether our candidate comes out on top.

There is much to consider this election season as several critical issues that will impact the citizenry are on the table. Many of those issues will impact us near term, but they will also set the stage for the future of our country.

Election Day, Nov. 5, will end the costliest, dirtiest American political campaign season in memory and it will likely also mark Opening Day for what could be the costliest, dirtiest post-election fight in American history.

Let’s pause to consider the-above headline. First, it’s a quote; I didn’t write it. That’s important because the third rail of today’s ag journalism — the deadly, high-voltage topic that can burn your career — is Donald Trump.

Farmers and ranchers are leading the way in climate-smart practices that reduce emissions, enrich the soil and protect our water and air, all while producing more food, fiber and renewable fuel than ever before.

As stewards of farms and ranches, we know the benefits of each season for growing crops and raising livestock. Those four distinct seasons help us learn to live in the moment. Every year, we only get a few months of each one.

If you buy nearly two billion pounds of beef a year — an on-the-hoof equivalent of seven million cattle — you’d think you’d get the best deal ever from your suppliers. Think again, says McDonald’s.

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture is on a mission to spark students’ curiosity about where their food comes from, but we cannot do it alone.

This fall, many farm leaders are considering how the farm’s financials for 2024 are going to shake out. Many farms across the Midwest are currently experiencing challenges around profit margins.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission — that toy poodle of a government watchdog overseeing the world’s largest agricultural and financial futures contracts — is being courted by the cryptocurrency industry.

Registration for the 2025 American Farm Bureau Convention is officially open. Whether you are a seasoned attendee or thinking of joining us for the first time, this is an event you do not want to miss.

The devastation across the South right now is heartbreaking. I know I speak for the whole Farm Bureau family when I say we are lifting our neighbors up in prayer, across the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia and Florida.

4-H has a greater reach than any other youth development organization — and young people need it now as much as ever before.

Alternative energy sources such as wind, geothermal, hydro and solar have grown increasingly popular as ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen the grid by decentralizing power production.

Like farmers and ranchers, veterinarians love to pour concrete. Many build customized facilities dedicated to their animal health mission: examination rooms, operating theaters, cattle chutes, holding pens, loading docks.

The building gloom in today’s ag commodity markets — wheat, barley, oats and cotton farmers all face increased production and decreased prices — has caught the attention of a long-distracted Congress.

At every level, Farm Bureau’s strength is in bringing members together to speak with a united voice, support one another and give back to our communities.

Our farms aren’t just another workplace for us. We raise our families on this land. We can’t be expected to play by the rules, though, when the federal government refuses to let us know what those rules are.

Some farm leaders might want to try out nearly every new method or new piece of technology, simply because it is the new thing.

It’s easy to see why Eligio “Kika” de la Garza was elected to 16 consecutive terms in the House of Representatives and served his final seven as chairman of the wide-sweeping and often unruly House Ag Committee.

A late-summer drought across much of the Midwest certainly altered the landscape. The cows are moving slowly, single file as they often do, coming from a pasture to get a drink from the automatic waterers.

Every day, rain or shine, farmers rise to do their jobs. Whether we’re tired or stressed, we press on. If we disagree with a family member, we find a way forward. We don’t stall on planting or harvesting or caring for our animals.

As American grocery buyers await a verdict on Kroger’s two-year-old bid to buy Albertsons, the European Commission took just 35 days to give its blessing to the merger between two of the world’s largest grain merchandisers.

Following a successful year at the Illinois State Fair with more than 70,000 people passing through the FFA Barnyard, the major state officers kept in “fair mode” as they traveled to the Du Quoin State Fair.

You are so much more important than any crop you will ever harvest. Don’t get in a mad rush. Don’t cut corners.

Sometimes, life is heavy. Trying to balance my career, household duties and helping on the farm quickly became overwhelming. To put it lightly, I was exhausted.

America’s farmers and ranchers are getting hit hard this year with low commodity prices and another record-setting agricultural trade deficit.

Few states put on a show like the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin, where 50,000 visitors from nearly 100 countries will see 1,800 owners exhibiting 2,500 or so of the best dairy cattle in the galaxy.

As a father and now a grandfather, one of the most bittersweet moments is watching your kids and grandkids climb onto the bus for the first day of school each year.

In our increasingly urgent quest to clean up our climate-altering, carbon-fueled culture, biodiesel and renewable diesel have become two new darlings of alternative fuel advocates.

Thirty-five trillion seconds is about 1.1 million years. To put it another way, if you started counting at the beginning of the Stone Age, you’d still be counting.

Rain makes grain, and two mid-August Department of Agriculture reports offered this year’s first in-the-field look at just how much corn, soybeans and wheat American farmers will grow this wet, grain-making year.

When it comes to your farm operation, what do you think about the idea of change or changes? Farm leaders might have very different reactions to this, depending partly on their personality.

Many farmers quietly struggle with mental health and are reluctant to ask for help. If you or someone you know needs help, reach out to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

August is here, which means for Farm Bureau, our policy development process is heading into full swing.

Milton Friedman, the patron saint of free markets and a founder of the Nobel-adorned Chicago school of economics, took a very dim view of all tariffs — ours, theirs, anyone’s.

Sometimes, you just need to let the rest of the world go and enjoy those moments that bring you joy.

Trying to stem the flow of money in politics is like trying to hold back the Mississippi River. It’s dirty, dangerous work that is almost always washed away by a flood of even more money.

Nearly 45% of all agricultural workers in the United States today — 950,000 of an estimated 2.2 million farmworkers — are “unauthorized” migrants working illegally on American farms and ranches.

Time is running out for Congress to pass a modernized farm bill this year. Families — on and off the farm — cannot afford a delay.

Whom do you consider your farming business partners? Farms can have several different scenarios when it comes to who is part of the leadership team and how many people are involved.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of serving as Farm Bureau president is getting the chance to witness firsthand the remarkable things our members are doing within their communities.

The more we learn about H5N1, the more we understand that good biosecurity is a critically important path to containing the virus.

Members of Congress will return home for the traditional August recess. Then after a brief time back in Washington, they will once again be back home to campaign in October.

Like most southern Illinois farms of my youth, my family had a closet filled with guns.

We, the citizenry of these United States of America, are subject to too many regulations at the federal, state and local level.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn the Chevron deference was a business-favoring decision to upend 40 years of legal precedent and redirect federal power from agencies like the USDA to the courts and Congress.

As a father, grandfather, farmer and man of faith, balance has become a cornerstone of my life. I have come to appreciate how crucial balance is in every aspect.