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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
On a total energy consumption basis, the United States hovers just above 10 percent that is sourced from renewable fuels; wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal feedstocks. On a recent road trip, it was clear that the Midwest States were … Continue reading →
In our Central Illinois community, both Kroger and Walmart are selling eggs below $3.00/dozen. It is difficult to believe that this is news. However in 2025, the retail price of a dozen eggs was high enough to drive the nation’s … Continue reading →
Ben Laine, Terrainag.com wrote an interesting report dairy digester sustainability. One graphic message in an animated version of this map shows US dairy digester growth since 2001. Dairy digesters keep growing in size. The most recent digesters dwarf the earlier … Continue reading →
This final lesson on shaping data in Excel is brought to you by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) website. Reviewing the YouTube videos created for this data-shaping exercise, the 4 videos span 45 total … Continue reading →
The last few months have provided opportunity to flex my spreadsheet skillset. Excel code and technique seemed to erupt through the keyboard. In the last few months, diverse datasets have included: 2024 household food expenditures 2024 household power consumption and … Continue reading →
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) carries significant weight in the flow of decisions and confidence in the US economy. Does the CPI mirror authentic food purchases? YES! Are household food expenditures and the Food … Continue reading →
