Authentic Fun with Arrival of First Copies of My First Book
First time author, book arrival moment. It was authentically gratifying! Late the other night, my wife, Tracy Hall, made a comment about the cameras catching the delivery truck. I said, “what delivery truck?” Well, what do you know? A box … Continue reading →
Our Community Loves to Support Our Junior Livestock Show – Secret Life of Rural Communities
Every August our Bond County rural community loves to love up the young livestock show youth. During the County Fair the show animals are auctioned off in an interesting combination of bragging rights (for who purchased – bid the highest … Continue reading →
It is Official. Mark Jenner is a Flaming Nerd.
Being Mark Jenner is a honed, discipline. It doesn’t just happen. Sometimes, it is exhausting. Mostly it is, quite simply, a GRAND ADVENTURE!!! I just returned from my professional ag economist meetings in Denver. And it is official. I am … Continue reading →
The Legacy Textbook, Principles in Agribusiness Management, is at the Printers!
A few years ago, I was invited to revise the popular, 30-year introductory agribusiness textbook, Principles in Agribusiness Management by James G. Beierlein, Kenneth C. Schneeberger, and Donald D. Osburn. I was both flattered and thrilled. Since 2014, the fifth … Continue reading →
US Producer Age Differs by Farm Enterprise
The USDA, 2022 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1, Table 75, provides farm data on what is produced by all farms, but it also provides census data by area of farm specialization. These are identified by NAICS (North American Industry Classification … Continue reading →
US Farm Producer Age Category by Value of Production – Part II
In the recent post, US Farmer Age is Inversely Related to Value of Production, average farm producer age in 2022 was 55 years of age on farms that had over $1,000,000 in annual farm production. All 3.5 million farm producers … Continue reading →
US Farmer Age is Inversely Related to Value of Production
Since the 2022 Census of Agriculture was released in February 2024, there has been extensive discussion about the aging of farmers and producers. It is true. With each successive Census – every 5 years – the average age of farmers … Continue reading →
Hemp Producers are Bucking the Aging Farmer Trend
The USDA provides a treasury of farm data in many different formats. With decades of farm data experience, I hoped I could bring new insights into the ‘aging farmer’ discussion. What I learned instead is that hemp producers don’t fit … Continue reading →
Energy Independence Reflections: July 4, 2025
The Big Beautiful Bill has passed. I am trying to keep up as best as a multi-value chain, policy-adjacent economist can. I am a professional skeptic, and therefore, am pretty sure that regardless of the new policy, we will forge … Continue reading →
Great Visuals on Biogas State Production Potential from ABC
The American Biogas Council (ABC) had made available current and potential capacity of local state-level biogases, also known as, biogenic methane and other gases produced from ambient organic feedstocks. The ABC has been in action for less than two decades, … Continue reading →