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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
A cool thing happened to me a few years ago. Rob Clark, of The Tall Family, moved into my community. At the time, I didn’t know anything about The Tall Family, with billions of views on multiple social media platforms. … Continue reading →
