In the throes of providing leadership on contract poultry grower challenges in the late 1990s, a brilliant mentor, Larry Cole, PhD., challenged me on whether I wanted to be 1) part of the defining the problem or 2) part of … Continue reading →
One of the quiet benefits of membership in the St. Louis Agribusiness Club, is getting to know Club members like Philip Bradshaw, a retired farmer from Pike County, Illinois. At the April 2026 meeting, Philip reintroduced his 2019 book, Your … Continue reading →
In 2016, I was invited to build a 4-year agribusiness program at Greenville University (GU) in Greenville, Illinois. We did it. Success is sometimes difficult to measure, but in this case, success is a measure of achieving our goals and … Continue reading →
Is it the 4-year, higher education, secondary education, or the rapidly changing agricultural industries? In a perfect world all these groups would complement each other. They do work together, actually, but under the surface there is competition for that leadership … Continue reading →
With great confidence, all organics are going to rot. There is a gratifying consistency in this certainty. The global and US farm economies are on fire with wars and rumors of wars. It is a difficult season to be a … Continue reading →
Last year, I became aware of ReFED.org and their work on food waste. Their report, “From Surplus to Solutions: 2025 ReFED U.S. Food Waste Report,” was popular in the food waste circles. It is an impressive document and an even … Continue reading →
This news of Nora Goldstein’s changing role at BioCycle came out two weeks ago and it was too important not to circle back. I am grateful to have had the chance to work and learn together with Nora Goldstein and … Continue reading →
It is also a slow way to build capital. While I was in high school, I remember one of our farm neighbors, built a commercial hog farm largely on his spirit and work ethic. Several large farmers helped cover his … Continue reading →
Thanksgiving arrives with an annual focus on food prices. We host friends and family at home with lots of prepared food. One of the annual food price traditions is the American Farm Bureau Federation, Thanksgiving Survey. Regular readers know that … Continue reading →
In September, the St. Louis Agribusiness Club released their 2025 Economic Study of the agribusiness economic impact on the St. Louis region. For those of us in this region, it is validation of the passion we have for working in … Continue reading →
