“Politicians complaining about the media is like a sailor complaining about the sea,” Winston Churchill, former prime minister of Great Britain, was quoted by Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull. He added, “There’s not much point, that’s the media we live with, and we have to get our message across. We thank you all in the media for the kind attention.” […]

Commodity prices have tumbled and, based on recent commodity reports, they might fall even more. How much further can they go? Oh, what a difference a year makes! Back then, we were thinking that a $6 price for wheat was low and $5 wheat was unthinkable. Now, it is threatening to drop below $4. When I think about the drop […]

? Peabody?s Derek Klingenberg is putting his unique brand on agriculture. Derek Klingenberg hangs out with his trombone in the family?s cattle corral on their farm near Peabody. Wendy Nugent / Free Press It almost seems like an odd similarity how the color of the green screen at the large shop where Derek Klingenberg works in rural Peabody matches the […]

Proponents of organic, labor-intensive farming contend we should go back to the days when every family owned 40 acres, farmed with hay burners (horses) and used no chemicals. You remember the good ole? days when people were self-sufficient, owned a couple milk cows, tilled a garden and butchered 40 or 50 fryers each spring. Some of these zealots propose each […]

What is an opinion worth if one cannot express it to others? The short answer is: It does not matter to anyone else. Dialogue between two or more individuals is essential for ideas within a free society such as ours to take root and grow into whatever action that society wants to do with it. Agriculture is no different. It […]

If today?s crop of young farmers and ranchers plan to play a part in the future of agriculture, they must position themselves where this industry will be?not where it is. There are four key considerations young farm and ranch couples must take to heart if they are to reach their full potential. These include: be willing to change; be part […]