The Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, platform is generating a lot of interest in how our food is produced. Farmers and ranchers welcome a healthy discussion — we always have.

With a new Congress and administration sworn in, it’s time to get back to work in Washington. Just like there’s never a shortage of work to be done on the farm, there’s a full list of issues that our lawmakers need to tackle.

My father began retiring long before the sale of our farm’s dairy cows in 1989. Began is the appropriate word because his exit from dairy farming was “slower than molasses in January,” as he liked to say. Years slow, in fact.

The day after Congress certified Donald Trump’s election as president, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted unannounced raids throughout Bakersfield, California, descending on businesses where day laborers and field workers gather. The impact was immediate.

I have said it many times: farming is not an easy life’s work and certainly not for the faint of heart. Farming can push you to your physical and emotional limits. It can nearly kill you. It can save your life.

The new year always feels like a fresh start, a time to plan for the months ahead and think about what needs to get done.

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.

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

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.