Opinion
“I want you to know the importance of the people you allow into your life,” Ray Perryman said. “The company you keep has absolutely everything to do with where you end up. Be careful who you allow into your life.”
Bridging the gap between the youth show ring experience and production ag is crucial for creating a pipeline of skilled and knowledgeable individuals who can contribute to the ag industry, says Rebecca Keel Stack.
Columnist Abby Kornegay has hosted and participated in many farm tours. While there are good reasons to open up to visitors, she points out there are also several reasons to be hesitant. Here are things to consider.
An adequate labor force will be the biggest challenge facing ag for the foreseeable future. We need to instill the things into youth we have learned from previous generations, but we can’t be the “grumpy old man.”
In southwestern Minnesota, Preston Maurer works alongside his dad, Rick, on their family farm where they raise corn, soybeans, wheat and hogs. After he returned home from college, they found themselves stretched thin.
Further processing of value-added products for direct sale to end-user customers in both retail and foodservice will increase over the next five years and help feed the growing global consumer demand.
The other night PORK editor Jennifer Shike and her daughter had a conversation she hopes they never forget. Here’s why it’s one we can all relate to.
What makes a good mom? That’s a question that PORK editor Jennifer Shike has been asking for nearly 17 years. Here’s a little honest insight into her journey.
As I approached the site of my first animal activist rally, I kept my distance. I watched two people beside a small megaphone and a bag, checking their phones constantly. I leaned in anticipating what would happen next.
For a family of four, pork has a $2,400 advantage over beef annually. With the quality and taste of pork today, along with the price advantage, as an industry we need to use pork’s advantages to increase demand.
Showing livestock is supposed to be fun. But if we are really honest with ourselves, like all good things, it has its moments.
When you’re a storyteller, you often get to hang behind the scenes to tell someone else’s story. It’s a safe place because it’s not about you — it’s about them. It’s less risky and more predictable.
How fair officials and the local sheriff, both unencumbered by intelligence, tarnished your image as a livestock producer and created a public relations disaster.
The U.S. pork industry is still laboring under a substantial amount of uncertainty for the remainder of 2023. Despite some positive developments in several areas, there are new or ongoing challenges in others.
It doesn’t have to be eloquent. It doesn’t need to be deep. It doesn’t even have to be properly written to make an impact. But, you do have to speak up. Here’s why my daughter’s “opinion piece” struck a chord.
It was a sad day when my wife discovered $6 per package bacon at our local grocery store last spring. She passed it by. We cannot continue to be dependent solely upon belly value as the sole driver of carcass value.
Editor Jennifer Shike won’t deny that it’s hard to open up and share with others. But here’s why saying yes to those opportunities to tell your story can have a bigger impact than you can imagine.
Being an FFA member isn’t something you hang up when you age out. Your role just changes, says Farm Journal’s PORK editor Jennifer Shike.
If you are feeling a little upside-down now, just remember you aren’t alone. We are living in strange and hard times. I think that’s why we need to look for and tell more of the good stories. Here’s a few.
We all know that deep roots matter on our farms – whether in actual practice or in theory. Too often we get caught up worrying so much about the pace of our growth that we miss the importance of the depth of our roots.
I’ll never forget joining my daughter for a school walkathon. As we started walking, a little boy gravitated to us and made an offhanded comment about sleeping in his car. Could this really be happening in our community?
It’s great to know what you want to do next, but we don’t always get to control how life shakes out. That’s why mental toughness may be one of the most important attributes we can develop.
As parents of three kids, my husband and I admit that life feels a little busy now. From livestock shows and wrestling meets to gymnastics practices and FFA contests, it’s hard to get everything done some days.
Everyone has their eye on next spring to be the big fork in the road or the big reveal as to how our current situation in the U.S. and global economy will find its pathway to a resolution (of inflation primarily).
The Guest of Christmas Future shares hints about the holiday.
Some things just take time to learn right. Editor Jennifer Shike reflects on the gratitude she has for colleagues who helped her learn valuable lessons in her career.
It is certainly hard to see the empty chairs around the Thanksgiving table. A lifetime of memories will make you smile and then cry. You don’t know all that can change from one Thanksgiving to the next.
From trusting people to picking up trash, Jennifer Shike reflects on lessons learned from Darrell Anderson, the latest inductee into the Saddle and Sirloin Club, the “who’s who” of the livestock industry.
Production efficiency is critical to keeping productivity high, which means management decisions become critical.
Harassment of Dr. Frank Mitloehner by journalists with an anti-animal ag agenda went about as well as a drunken tourist playing chicken with a bison in Yellowstone.