Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Manufacturers are “an order of men whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public.” That quote is originally from the first economist, Scotland’s Adam Smith, almost 250 years ago, and is repurposed by writer Eric Schlosser in the foreword of Iowan Austin Frerick’s new book, “Barons: Money, Power, […] Read more
Opinion: The barons of the dinner table
New book pulls back the curtains on ag mercantilists
Fake meat is mostly a fake-out for now
Meat alternative companies have made big boasts, but the numbers are on the side of real animal products
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beyond Meat, Inc. has had almost 15 years to build a product lineup that is, as its name claims, beyond meat. By some business metrics, it has. The company, whose market capitalization was pegged at US$1.3 billion when it went public in 2018, recently reported April-to-June 2023 sales of $102 million. That sounds like a […] Read more
Opinion: War is expensive both on and off the battlefield
Big financial costs, big human costs, but also big agribusiness profits
Reading Time: 2 minutes Union general William T. Sherman once famously said, “War is hell.” However you describe it, war is expensive. For some, it’s extremely profitable, too. Shooting wars aren’t the only type of warfare that are costly, deadly and often without a winner. In January 2022, the International Monetary Fund estimated the total cost of the COVID-19 […] Read more
The campaign to whitewash farm and ranch vocabulary
Cargill is apparently no longer in the business of ‘slaughtering’ cattle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmers and ranchers have a well-deserved reputation for straight talk. Saying what you mean and meaning what you say, after all, were essential elements in the handshake deals that were the hallmark of rural business for generations. They still are. Now, however, some folks outside the nation’s fields and fences are working overtime to wash […] Read more
U.S. ranchers ask, ‘Where’s my cow insurance?’
Reading Time: 2 minutes It was evident from the hello that the South Dakota rancher had practised his pitch before he dialed my office. “I’m (so and so),” he said in a clipped, clear voice, “an independent cow-calf producer west of the (Missouri) river with 500 cows. I’m calling with one question: Where do I go to sign up […] Read more
Policies give lie to farmers’ mantra
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some people believe in tillage, others in no till. Some people believe in planning, others in fate. Ask an American farmer if he believes a big part of his destiny includes feeding the world and he’ll likely say, “Yep.” The answer is quick and sincere because somewhere in every farmer and rancher’s makeup is a […] Read more
U.S. cattle industry vibrant — but not for cowboys
Reading Time: 2 minutes Twice a week,New York Timescolumnist Thomas L. Friedman drives political and economic policymakers into full rant on topics as opposite as global free trade (he loves it) and national industrial policy (he loves it, too). Kiss him or kick him, Friedman can turn a phrase. A current Friedmanism notes that “If you jump off the […] Read more
U.S. Election Fallout — Boiling Water, But Not For Tea
Reading Time: 2 minutes If ascendant Republicans act on what they say was the clear message sent by voters Nov. 2, the 112th Congress ain’t gonna’ be a tea party. Oh, something will boil, alright. It may be the fat most politicians claim is stored in all those pork barrels on Capitol Hill. After that, maybe some of the […] Read more
Ohio Livestock Growers Caged By Farm Groups – for Sep. 13, 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes What was to be a clever, voter-sanctioned effort to fence out the animals-are-people crowd in Ohio last year is, depending on your perspective, either a progressive way for farm and animal rights groups to work together toward humane livestock production or a total sellout of livestock producers by Big Ag to the Humane Society of […] Read more
U. S. Packers Seek To Dominate Livestock Markets – for Aug. 2, 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes Watching Big Pork and Big Beef respond to proposed USDA rules to “clarify conduct that violates the P&S (Packers and Stockyards) Act” is like watching Wall Street bankers: they find it impossible to pull their hands out of your pockets long enough to pull themselves out of the mess they’ve made. That’s a good explanation […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
