Month: April 2025

Two reasons to be hopeful

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Here’s an email I received in response to last week’s program:

Ed,
I’m a Republican and Trump voter and man enough to say, “I wish I didn’t.” You are touching on some issues like fascism that have some merit. Democrats should be happy about what is going to happen in politics. Because of the idiot Trump screwing things up, the Republican Party will be shunned and our candidates rolled in the next election. Voters will finally get enough of this unprofessional loose canon who is a business disaster for America.

Such discontent isn’t an anomaly. It’s the tip of the iceberg. A mere 93 days into Trump’s second term, a small but meaningful slice of Trump voters are already experiencing buyer’s remorse. As the President’s assault on the Constitution, the economy, and decency itself continues, the number of disgruntled Trump supporters will only grow. Continue Reading →

Gulf of Iowa Topsoil

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Ok, so there’s farmers, and there’s farm managers. Being a small-is-beautiful guy, I’d rather see more farmers than farm managers. But there are big farms and there will be big farms. So there will be farm managers. What we need is for everyone involved in agriculture to embrace sustainable practices.

Last week, one of my program contributors shared a story about a farm manager who took over operation of several farms 25 years ago. The manager told farmers renting land from him that, instead of tilling in the fall, they would be required to sow cover crops.

Some farmers didn’t like that. But the farm manager tells of one farmer who hasn’t applied chemical fertilizers for eight years. His yields are the same or better than when he used chemicals. He was able to sell off some machinery that was no longer needed. His costs are less and his profits are up. Most important, his soil is being enriched instead of degraded. Continue Reading →