Before a January “memorandum of understanding,” or MOU, on a farmer’s “right to repair” his farm machinery, U.S. equipment makers and their farm and ranch customers were locked in a legal and legislative fight over who could fix today’s complex ag machinery.

I can think of no better way to kick off the spring season than by celebrating the hard work and commitment of America’s farm and ranch families. We are proud to grow the safe and sustainable food, fiber and renewable fuel we all rely on.

Like many of you, this is my favorite time of year. We say so long to gray February days and welcome the season that breathes new life into our part of the planet.

Life is often marked by a series of defining events: graduations, marriage, the birth of a child or grandchild, or in our case the day our 2-year-old son, Scott, was run over by a tractor.

The Illinois Soybean Association and its partners are honored to continue the Illinois 20 Under 40 recognition program in 2023. The program celebrates 20 young farmers under 40 for their work in the agricultural community and beyond.

After the revelation that Packers Sanitation Services Inc. had illegally hired at least 102 teenagers to clean some of the nation’s most profitable industrial meatpacking plants, one child at the center of the story has “watched her whole life unravel.”

If you asked the five Illinois FFA state officers where they would be on any given night during February and March, each answer would be different each time.

The second to the last column I penned for this newspaper in 2022 was entitled “The super cycle is alive and well.” I wrote: “Commodities in the new year will outperform the other major asset classes, stocks, bonds and currencies.”

Over the past few weeks, a host of markets have turned lower to sharply lower. The reason for the weakness is the money managers, the funds, the “algo boys” high-frequency traders and chartists are finally reluctant to fight the Fed.