Columns

2023 -- year for MCOOL

OPINION New Year’s question – What do various organizations with membership comprised of Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, urbanites and rural folks, and consumers and producers, all have in common?

Please, dear God, send visions

OPINION Have you ever been called on the carpet? Let’s say you are on the job and you find yourself in a situation where you need to make a decision about serving the best interests of your customer. But it will mean breaking a company rule, or keeping the rule and leaving your customer out…

Energy-efficiency incentives abound

OPINION This time of the year leaves most of us dreading to see our heating bills. But this year we have new options to afford our bills and better incentives to make home improvements that will reduce our bills going forward.

Say thanks to Wisconsin ag teachers

OPINION When adults think back to our formative years, we can likely pick a teacher or two who fundamentally made a difference in our lives and influenced our future career paths. For many in the agricultural industry, that teacher was an agricultural teacher. Hundreds of agricultural instr…

Let carrots be carrots

OPINION In early October the news caught my eye that JBS, the world’s largest meat-processing company, was pulling out of the plant-based-protein market. The story, reported by The Denver Business News, noted that JBS started Planterra about two years ago. Planterra opened a processing faci…

Beware foreign investment in farmland

OPINION I was on a conference call in August and one of the participants asked a question.

Squirrels, chickens and the unexpected

OPINION Sometimes the unexpected drops out of the sky. Well, from that general direction, at least.

Milk-pricing reform encouraging

OPINION Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative recently participated in an industry-wide effort to build consensus on milk-pricing reform. The cooperative was among the groups at a meeting hosted by the American Farm Bureau Federation to discuss meaningful changes to the U.S. dairy-pricing system.

Enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage

OPINION The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently opened enrollment for the 2023 Dairy Margin Coverage program. FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative encourages all dairy farmers to participate in the important safety-net program that continues to provide for dairy farmers when margins become tight.

Enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage

OPINION With increasing costs eroding dairy margins despite greater milk prices, the National Milk Producers Federation is urging farmers to enroll for maximum coverage in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dairy Margin Coverage program. Despite record prices in 2022, accompanying record …

Conservation programs help ranchers

OPINION I recently finished doing paperwork for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Stewardship Program. The program has some of the typical USDA projects that I would expect – fencing that’s wildlife-friendly, water-pipeline and water-tank installation to entice cows out of t…

Fight to prevent African swine fever

As African swine fever continues to spread throughout Asia and parts of Europe, we see firsthand the devastation it causes to swine populations. The United States remains free of African swine fever but in 2021 African swine fever was detected in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Those are t…

Celebrate fall in Wisconsin

OPINION Fall is a glorious time of year in Wisconsin. From the leaves changing color to the plethora of local events and outdoor recreational activities that abound, there is something for everyone.

Oil companies to blame for fuel prices

OPINION Around the globe people are feeling the pain of inflation. The main contributor is gas and diesel prices. In the current global economy goods are moved across America as well as around the world. The price increase in fuel has led to a spike in the cost of everything we produce and buy.

Say thanks to Wisconsin farmers

OPINION At this time of year, you don’t need to drive far in Wisconsin to see combines running in the fields, tractors moving equipment and trucks hauling grain. Wisconsin farmers are working from sunrise to long past sunset to harvest their crops and prepare their farms for winter. During …

Justice needed for Indigenous communities

OPINION Wis. Gov. Tony Evers in 2019 declared the second Monday of October to be commemorated as Indigenous Peoples Day in Wisconsin. We should on this day reflect on all we owe to the Indigenous communities that contribute so much to the state of Wisconsin.

Celebrate Indigenous generations, culture, resiliency

Today I’m recognizing and celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day with a message honoring Wisconsin’s Native Nations, reaffirming the state’s commitment to respecting Tribal Sovereignty and utilizing government-to-government relationships to build a stronger future for the state.

Tesla creations affect agriculture

OPINION Tesla has sold more than 3 million cars worldwide. There’s no doubt automotive manufacturers are shifting research and development dollars toward making more electric vehicles to capture some of Tesla’s growing market dominance in the space. If you – like me – love cars, trucks and o…

Better food-labeling rules needed

OPINION Like most people with a smartphone, Google displays stories on my phone that may interest me. I tend to look at lots of agricultural stories. One particularly random story showed up recently. It involved James Cromwell, the actor from the movie “Babe.”

Planting seeds always brings pride

OPINION At this time each year, with rare exceptions, I make the trek to my family’s cemetery, located in a no-stop-light town deep in the heart of Kansas. Three generations have their final resting place there and all of them share an agrarian heritage.

Celebrate Women’s Equality Day

OPINION Aug. 26 we celebrate Women’s Equality Day and the 102nd anniversary of the 19th Amendment. I personally know and work with so many women who are influential leaders and work hard for a better Wisconsin. I find it difficult to imagine a time when women were barred from participating …

Milk, dairy critical to school children

OPINION As almost 50 million children return to public school, a group of dairy and nutrition advocates is encouraging parents and policymakers to prioritize the health of students by making milk and dairy options more accessible in the coming school year.

Inflation Reduction Act good for farmers

OPINION Michael Crowder, president of the National Association of Conservation Districts, said, “(Our organization) applauds the inclusion of conservation and natural-resources program funding in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which was recently approved by Congress. The bill was then…

Proposed legislation needed for biofuel

OPINION The Renewable Fuels Association thanks U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa-New Hartford, and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors for introducing the Next Generation Fuels Act in the Senate. The bill establishes a high-octane, low-carbon fuel standard that would reduce pump prices, reduce…

Legislation reflects key wins for dairy

OPINION The National Milk Producers Federation commends the inclusion of $20 billion in new funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs in the Inflation Reduction Act that was approved this week by the U.S. Senate.

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