Did you know dairy cows give more milk when they listen to Mozart? Ah, the things you learn from the tour bus guide when passing through farm country on your way to Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. While we don’t raise dairy cows on my family’s farm near Lake City, Iowa, […]

Throughout America’s heartland, two institutions have stood the test of time—farming and baseball. That’s not to diminish the popularity of the games that gave rise to classic stories like “Friday Night Lights” or “Hoosiers.” But those pursuits generally end for small-town residents once players head off to college or start careers. Baseball players, however, play […]

With Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Snapchat so prominent these days, it’s easy to forget about email marketing as an effective communication tool. Actually, email has undergone a renaissance in the past two to three years. A recent study by the Direct Marketing Association reports that email campaigns conducted with well-maintained inhouse lists achieved […]

Michigan Growers Promote Agriculture From the Ground Up Carole and Red Christofferson love their farm, and agriculture in general. The former high school teachers bought their farm 50 years ago just outside of Ludington, Michigan, on the sandy, rolling hillsides about five miles from Lake Michigan. Today, Christofferson Farms produces some of the most beautiful […]

When the U.S. Senate confirmed a new Secretary of Agriculture today it affirmed the nomination of a former governor, a veterinarian, an agribusiness entrepreneur…and a pilot. As a young man, Sonny Perdue flew a crop duster and, after college but prior to earning his DVM, served as an Air Force pilot. George Ervin Perdue III […]

Fifty-five runners and walkers crossed the finish line in Tolstoy, South Dakota, on January 21, to raise more than $3,000 for the Labs for Liberty program. Here, Sabot, finishing in 10th place on a balmy 28-degree day in north central South Dakota, poses with his trainer/caretaker, Katie Nold. Late in 2017, Sabot will be paired […]