In the United States, the processing of meat that Americans eat every day is dominated by a handful of giant companies. There are lots of small, independent meat processors here in Iowa that do quality work, but they do not enjoy the advantages that the corporate packinghouses have. The state ...
From the earliest days, the emergence of successful farms and related industries in the American Midwest depended on the hard work and vision of people who played leadership roles in these vital enterprises. That was true when pioneers first cultivated the vast prairies, and it is ...
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is encouraging eligible farm owners to apply for the 2021 Century and Heritage Farm Program. The program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and recognizes families that have owned ...
Gov. Kim Reynolds has officially proclaimed May as Beef Month in Iowa. For many of us, every month is a time to partake of a food that ranks high on the list of culinary favorites. It’s no secret that Americans have a love affair with beef. That’s been true for generations and the ...
Corn growers and ethanol producers finally got a bit of good news from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has reversed its position on a policy issue in a move that, in the long run, will grow the market for ethanol. Refineries are required by federal law to blend billions of ...
To the editor: Wow farmer George Naylor hit the nail on the head in his letter on March 26. Ever since I started farming in 1965 all I have ever heard from the sowers of deceit (ag.secretaries, economists, bankers, politicians and farm publication’s) farmers need new markets and absolutely ...
It is no exaggeration to say that much has changed since the first metal plow sliced into the thick, fertile Iowa soil. The annual cycle of planting and harvesting continues, but just about everything else about farming has changed. And it is technology that has caused much of that ...
Corn growers and ethanol producers finally got a bit of good news from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has reversed its position on a policy issue in a move that, in the long run, will grow the market for ethanol. Refineries are required by federal law to blend billions of ...
To the editor, I’ve farmed now 45 years under 13 U.S. secretaries of agriculture, and like I suspected, heard nothing new from our “new” Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. (Farm News, March 12, 2021) Farmers, farmers, farmers—markets, markets, markets repeated over and over ...
As another growing season approaches, Tuesday, March 23 has been set as National Ag Day by the Agriculture Council of America. The council desig- nates the week within which it falls as National Ag Week, March 21-27. One goal of Ag Day is to recognize the contribution agriculture makes in the ...