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Blog2023-07-04T09:03:17-05:00

Commodity programs

The American farmer contributes over one billion dollars a year for commodity programs. Commodity programs are all a little different, but all operate about the same way. The farmer when he sells his commodity has a small dollar amount held out of his check. Each individual commodity association program manages and [...]

June 20, 2025|

weekly blog!

  HIGHLIGHT BOLIVIA-BRAZIL   Brazil and Bolivia Receive WHOA Certification for FMD-free without Vaccination   On May 29, 2025, Bolivia and Brazil reached a significant health milestone by receiving an international certification from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) as countries free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) without vaccination. After [...]

June 16, 2025|

Commodity Benefits

Everybody benefits from commodity checkoff programs, funds collected at first point of sale, money taken out of farmer's checks when he or she sells a commodity. The big one we all benefit from is biofuels, gasohol, and biodiesel. Gasohol made by blending corn oil with petroleum oil (Gasoline) and biodiesel [...]

June 7, 2025|

commodity programs

The American farmer after the Second World War saw many changes from farming with horses to using tractors, more machinery, new hybrid seeds, and new technology.  Farmers were also seeing living standards going up in the urban areas as people were getting good jobs living and working in more populated [...]

May 31, 2025|

China/US tariff/trade talk

The current China/US tariff/trade talks made me think about how fast the last 53 years has gone by.   President Nixon and China Premier Chou En-lai signed the Shanghai Communique February 28, 1972. This agreement opened China for trade but only partly. This was the first discussion between China and the [...]

May 24, 2025|

Your Food My Adventure

Food is vital for life. The Rotary magazines April issue said one third of the U.S. food is wasted, about 18 million U.S. households are food insecure for some portion of the year, meaning they don’t have food or are not sure they’re able to purchase enough food. The article [...]

May 12, 2025|

Soybean checkoff opposition thwarted

The American Soybean Association (ASA) this week flagged an amendment in the agriculture appropriations bill that unfairly criticized the soybean checkoff. Fortunately, the House beat back the amendment, on a vote of 49 to 377. Many of you know I was chairman at Illinois Soybean Association and United Soybean Board [...]

October 5, 2023|

New Philadelphia: New National Park Site

I traveled to Omaha last week to deliver some paperwork on the New Philadelphia National Historic Site project we have been working on for some time. As long-time President of the New Philadelphia Association, I am proud to have been a part of this important recognition, and shepherd it through [...]

September 20, 2023|

My first adventure: Mexico A trip with lasting impressions

Nearly 65 years ago, my friend Johnny Warton and I hopped in his green MG TF two-seater sports car for our first international road trip to Mexico. The idea that two Illinois farm kids would travel over 1,000 miles, crossing a border into another country, was not entirely unheard of [...]

August 9, 2023|

US-China Trade: Important to both sides

The relationship between the US and China remains a current topic in many circles. Since the beginning of 2023, two US officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, have met with Chinese officials to warm the relationship between the two countries. Over the past 50+ [...]

July 25, 2023|
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