Opinion

Flipping the calendar year to 2025 led to the transition of our team goals to include planning for Illinois FFA State Convention.

A report on sustainable aviation fuel issued by Canada’s National Farmers Union makes a CO2-tight case that this largely crop-based, “renewable” alternative to today’s carbon-heavy jet fuel should never be produced.

This past year marked my second full year serving as executive vice president at the American Farm Bureau Federation and it has been inspiring to see our organization flourish as we serve farmers and ranchers.

By far the biggest lender to U.S. farmers, ranchers and rural businesses is the Farm Credit System whose four banks and 56 associations hold nearly 50% of all debt in rural America.

When we talk about water issues in Indiana, you might think we’re concerned with water quality rather than quantity.

Why the results surprised anyone is itself a surprise. After the state of California began testing dairy herds for highly pathogenic avian influenza, known also as bird flu or H5N1, in August, it found the pathogen on 645 dairy farms.

Criminal activity is on the rise in many rural areas. Vandalism to crops, buildings, machinery, fencing and vehicles occurs more frequently than we would like to believe.

America’s farmers and ranchers have such a great story to share, and it’s critical for the public to better understand what goes into growing the food, fiber and renewable fuel that drives our nation.

Many of us set goals that are too ambitious or unattainable. Simply put, we set ourselves up for failure when we set unrealistic goals. We also fail if our goals lack specificity and are hard to measure and track.

Before 2024 slides into history, some noteworthy farm and food updates, please, to ensure these stories go with it.

As a farmer and rancher, I’ve learned to count on the seasons. They don’t wait. The crops don’t hold off until it’s convenient, and the livestock don’t adjust their needs to fit my schedule.

As I nurture my poinsettia and other green companions, I’m constantly reminded of the growth happening within our family.

We are down to the short rows of 2024. Winter is upon us. Christmas is days away. The older I get, the more quickly the days, weeks, months and years pass by.

The Christmas tree was a scrub cedar hacked from the edge of the woods that bordered the farm. Big-bulbed lights, strung in barber pole fashion, generated almost as much heat as the nearby wood stove.

While the president-elect continues to nominate prospective members of his incoming administration, the outgoing Congress faces a hectic sprint to complete a long list of unmet legislative duties before their pre-Christmas adjournment.

The policies that impact our daily lives are often shaped at the local level. Yes, state and national policies are very important, but I cannot help but notice that sometimes we lose sight of what’s right in front of us in our communities.

If you believe in striking while the iron is hot, you got to love Summit Carbon Solutions’ swift, decisive action on its multibillion-dollar, CO2 pipeline just weeks after Donald Trump was reelected.

Nearly every autopsy of Vice President Kamala Harris’s stinging White House defeat begins with some variation of the phrase, “Voters pointed to the rising price of food as their chief concern.”

I’ve spent a lot of time in the cabs of tractors recently as we continue our marathon of fall harvest.

This is a time for Americans to honor the men and women who have selflessly protected the freedoms and values that shape our country, both during their service and long after.

Even amidst the ever-present challenges that are part of farming, we have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

As Thanksgiving approaches, families across America are getting ready to gather with loved ones, share favorite dishes and reflect on the past year.

Activist-driven ballot measures were shot down by voters in Colorado and California on Nov. 5.

It’s a new day. No more campaign text messages. No more political ads. We open a new chapter and prepare for a new dialogue with a new Congress and new president come January.

As we head into the holiday season, please support those who support your community. There are many reasons to shop in your local, rural communities.

Calls for $20 billion in “emergency” farm program payments won’t go away now that the proposal’s principal audience, voters, have done their duty.

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.