News, Insights & Interviews Archive

DEI disdain trumped a federal program that provided funding for some beginning farmers in 40 states. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion has become a target by Republican-led governmental entities across the United States over the past several years amid criticism that the efforts to aid groups that have faced discrimination are themselves racist. Supporters of DEI say that the programs help various demographic communities that have not had the same economic opportunities that o

A northern Kentucky community has overcome the Great Depression a century ago and a poverty rate nearly twice the national average. Residents have been tested again and again. But few of Mason County’s 17,000 residents in Mayfield demonstrated their commitment to the community, their traditions, and their land more than Ida Huddleston and her daughter Delsia Bare. Because of that commitment, the mother and daughter may be the most famous residents since legendary singer and a

First came the fast-moving wildfires, damage, and agony. Then came the help from fellow farmers who always seem to rise to the moment to help another farmer in need. High winds and dry conditions fueled some of the worst fires in the history of Nebraska this month, burning more than 800,000 acres and reshaping the outlook for farmers and ranchers heading into the growing season. At the center of the devastation was the Morrill Fire. That fire scorched more than 640,000 acres

Brian Reisinger has worked for a governor who ran for president, a U.S. Senator who ran for president, and another U.S. Senator who thought about running for president. These days, Reisinger has put politics aside as he has focused full-time on agriculture, his business, and his young family.

With the United States in the middle of a fierce debate on which immigrants should be allowed to legally remain and work in the United States, people like Sharon Krause is focused on opportunities for those committed to making a living on the farm. Should all people who entered the country illegally be forced to leave? Should only those who have violent criminal records be removed? Should everyone who overstayed a temporary visa get deported? Those questions and others have d

The family farm required the same characteristic that helped Joshua Manske thrive on the golf course: patience. Agriculture was never really something Manske left behind. But it was something that patiently waited for him to return.

How widespread is the opposition from people who don’t want farmland converted to data centers, are concerned about the water use from those facilities, oppose taxpayer subsidies for data centers, or a combination of those three complaints? It is so much so that nearly one in four states have considered moratorium legislation on new data centers, according to Good Jobs First , a nonprofit organization that tracks government subsidies, actions that it considers corporate misco

In the years ahead, America will need far more power generated than we currently produce. Our ever-increasing hunger for technology – and the power that it takes to operate that technology – demand it. Wind, solar, natural gas, coal and nuclear could be all among the options to produce some of that additional capacity. Data centers could be an integral part of the nation’s economy for the infrastructure to provide the storage, processing, internet, and distribution system to

President Donald Trump is trying to protect glyphosate, one of the most widely used and effective herbicides. Meanwhile, Bayer is trying to protect its business interests by offering billions of dollars to settle a class action lawsuit that claims that Roundup is making people seriously ill. President Trump’s executive order  invoked the Defense Production Act to ensure continued U.S. production of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides, arguing that both are es

When an 86-year-old farmer along the Route 81 corridor in central Pennsylvania was offered roughly $60,000 an acre for his land, the math was staggering. At 261 acres, the total approached $15 million.

At a time when cattle ranchers are deciding whether to replenish herds and wondering how additional beef imports from Argentina will impact the market, they are reading headlines about what investigators say has been massive fraud by a company based in Fort Worth, Texas, that collected more than $220 million. The new development is the latest in a series since 2023 that alleged improprieties by Agridime LLC. This Fort Worth Star-Telegram article   has more on the background

Listen on Spotify | Apple Podcasts Farms are getting bigger, and there are fewer farms each year. Those changes have taken place over a number of years. But Dennis Reyman, Partner at Stalcup Agricultural Services in Storm Lake, Iowa, said one factor remains constant in a constantly changing agricultural industry: farmers are still doing most of the farm buying. “…as far as land ownership, the trends are kind of the same as they usually are,” Reyman told American Farmland Ow

Joel Salatin speaking at the 2026 Land Investment Expo Joel Salatin does not take a conventional approach. While discussing agriculture young people love, Salatin was an atypical figure on the stage at the lunch keynote session of the 2026 Land Investment Expo in Des Moines, Iowa.  Salatin is a self-proclaimed “Christian, libertarian, environmentalist, capitalist, lunatic farmer.” He even sells “lunatic farmer’ t-shirts as part of his merchandising line. Lunatic Farmer t-shir

A 154-acre farm near Indianola, Iowa, sold at auction this January for $1.54 million, but it wasn’t a typical land sale. Along with the ground came one important condition: the longtime owner, Gwen Hodson, 93, will be allowed to remain in the farmhouse for the rest of her life.

No growth provides no future. Negative growth brings even more problems. But too much growth could bring issues, too. That is how Wyoming State Representative Jacob Wassenburger, R - Cheyenne, sees it.

After complaining about not getting awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, President Donald Trump later announced 10% tariffs against Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The countries opposed Trump’s threats to take over Greenland, which would violate the principles of the countries’ long-standing NATO alliance.  Trump threatened the tariffs until, “a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland.” However, he la

After a 15-year absence, whole milk is set to return to school lunches. President Donald Trump signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2025  into law. The law marks a significant shift in federal school nutrition policy and has been welcomed by dairy producers, rural advocates, and policymakers who see it as a boost to the dairy sector and an expansion of choice for school nutrition programs.  Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Acts of 2025 The 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids A

There is a new number one on the list of the nation’s leading landowners in the United States. If you don’t recognize the name, Stan Kroenke, you are probably at least familiar with some of the sports teams he owns: the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. The sports and entertainment mogul now owns 2.7 million acres of private land, consisting mostly of cattle ranches, according to the new Land Report 100  list. Kroenke was numb

Sharon Krause believes that the future of agriculture is close to home. “From an environmental perspective, the more food that we can grow closer to home, the more we reduce our costs between transportation and storage,” Krause told American Farmland Owner.

Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcast For many farm owners today, the question isn’t whether change is coming; it’s how to respond to it without jeopardizing everything they have built. Commodity markets remain volatile, input costs stay stubbornly high, and consolidation continues to squeeze margins. Virginia farmer, author, and outspoken agricultural thinker Joel Salatin offers a significantly different perspective for thinking about growth, resilience, and transition. Joel S