Many of us know the importance of road safety during planting and harvest seasons. However, less may realize that road safety is critical during the growing season, too, specifically at intersections.

One of the great honors of my role as American Farm Bureau Federation president is sharing the stories of farmers and ranchers from across this country with leaders who are making decisions that directly impact our work, our families and our livelihoods.

Last year, about this time, I wrote a column about putting things in perspective and understanding the national debt. The number that was the focus of my writing was 35 trillion. But, alas, a year has passed, and a new number has taken its place.

Last week’s column moved a reader to ask: "What fraction of the food assistance to low-income families has been spent in red districts in the past and what fraction of the population is in red districts?"

U.S. cattle producers with an interest in strengthening the economic position of their individual farms and ranches and in ensuring the health and safety of their livestock herd would not knowingly support policies that conflict with their own interests and goals.

Many of us grew up in homes where words like “please,” “thank you” and “you’re welcome” were as routine as brushing your teeth. These were not just phrases. They were signs of character.

“Why would federal policy favor legal fictional entities over individual family farms?” That’s a great question, and it was asked — and answered — by Jonathan Coppess, an associate professor of law and policy at the University of Illinois.

August recess is a prime time for Farm Bureau’s grassroots members to make their voices heard and share their stories.

In an apparent lightning strike of insight, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins offered her solution to what she and her GOP colleagues see as one of America’s biggest problems: agriculture’s one million or so undocumented workers.

I recently watched a PBS segment about the Lenape tribe of Native Americans, and one line in particular stuck with me. While sharing a traditional meal, an elder said, “Food anchors a community.”

Farm drones can be valuable in helping farmers keep an eye on their crops through the growing season.

Studies have shown that fewer than 20% of farm families have an effective estate plan to roadmap what happens to the family farm when dad and mom retire or pass away.

Lost in the breathless reporting on the huge federal budget cuts and even more massive federal tax cuts just passed by the heel-clicking Congress was a report on just how rich America’s mega-rich now are.

Farmers truly share a bond, no matter where we live or what we grow and raise.

It never ceases to amaze me how otherwise rational adults can turn into combative middle schoolers the moment certain hot-button topics hit the table.

Farming is an uncertain business. Farmers and ranchers received some certainty, however, with the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Even small Midwestern farms can harness the power of AI to boost productivity without breaking the bank.

With 2025 half gone, the cautious American ag economy, like the slowing U.S. economy, now tiptoes into its second half.

Imagination and growth fuel farming. Farmers and ranchers survey fields, flocks, herds and orchards, imagining the possibilities.

Chris Hoffman is president of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. He is a first-generation hog and chicken farmer.

The recent U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities had an immediate impact on the domestic economy, including costs associated with agricultural fertilizer.

As another large dust storm impacted Illinois, the conversation and questions continue about why and how to get the dust to settle and stay in the field rather than across roadways.

Questions and concerns about foreign countries owning U.S. land did not start recently nor will they end anytime soon.

The United States has the ability to produce nearly everything on grocery store shelves. That’s pretty remarkable.

Government, of course, has dozens of ways to indirectly impact ag markets.

If you’re in charge of reversing American agriculture’s three-years-old-and-growing trade deficit, your list of options is as limited as it is unworkable.

Beneath the red, white and blue fanfare lays a story that’s just as rooted in the soil as it is in our history books — because when America declared independence, it was farmers who helped make that freedom possible.

American farmers take the responsibility of providing a safe food supply to heart because we know that food security means national security.

Leadership and impact occurs in the small moments. And present happiness is not the way you should evaluate your current day, week or month.

Despite all his accolades and achievements, Dwight D. Eisenhower remained modest and plainspoken.

This is the second in a series of columns featuring conversations with state Farm Bureau presidents about current issues in agriculture.

The recently released MAHA report was the work product of the commission established by President Donald Trump’s executive order to “Make America Healthy Again.”

Our independent cattle and sheep industries have been steaming along through history as if they were without a strategic vision — rudderless and directionless.

National Pollinator Week is the perfect time to recognize the small creatures that play a major role in the success of agriculture.

Fire is a natural and necessary part of a healthy ecosystem.

For U.S. farmers and ranchers, May 22 was right out of a Dickens novel: It was the best of days and the worst of days.

When the Make America Healthy Again Commission released its report, it raised concerns across the agriculture community.

Earlier this winter while attending a farm show sponsored by a local radio station that carries Brownfield programming, a listener shared with me a poem, “Sermons We See,” by Edgar A. Guest.

When you’re 8 or 9 years old, you don’t see the world as you will as a 50- or 60-year-old. Much of what seems perfectly ordinary to a child often becomes quite extraordinary with the passing of time.

These days, it seems we’re hearing more and more talk about “big ag.”

Farm dogs take on important jobs, pitching in and lifting spirits. That’s why Farm Bureau is a proud partner with Nestlé Purina PetCare on the Farm Dog of the Year contest for the eighth year in a row.

For several years, I have used this column to offer up some nuggets of advice for those newly minted graduates and others willing to accept it.

Understanding Illinois property tax calculations is complex and confusing. Properties such as personal residences are taxed based on fair market value.

The opening lines in a recent farmdocDAILY post should have raised an eyebrow or two among farm bill geeks both in and out of Congress.

The Conservation Stewardship Program is sometimes misunderstood. It is perceived by some as complicated or not for small operations — and neither of those perceptions is true.

I’ve sat in my fair share of coffee shops, airplane terminals, restaurants, FFA chapters and convention halls this year, and it has continued to remind me that we find joy in the people around us.

This is the first in a series of columns featuring conversations with state Farm Bureau presidents about current issues in agriculture.

The Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge, now in its 12th year, showcases top entrepreneurs developing solutions to address both traditional and new challenges facing farmers and rural communities.

After two bitter tariff wars in less than a decade, China now sees Brazil as a better long-term bet for groceries than the United States.

Farmers and ranchers hold a unique bond with the land we care for. This connection often spans generations, grounded in a deep respect for the soil, water and natural resources that sustain our farms.