John Phipps
John was born and raised on a six-generation farm in east-central Illinois. Today (along with his wife Jan), John farms 1700 acres near Chrisman, IL. He has written humor and commentary for Farm Journal and Top Producer for over 13 years. Since 2005, John has been the host of U.S. Farm Report, America''s longest-running farm TV show. The show airs weekly across the US. John also speaks frequently to farm and business groups. His work as a speaker has taken him from Montana to Virginia, sharing with producer and agribusiness audiences. Learn more at his website.
Monday, December 29, 2008I have been spending spare moments looking at our farm budget for 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008Megan McArdle has the best Auto Industry 101 post I have read. If you have 10 minutes to spare, this lucid summary provides a good background for understanding what is happening.
Monday, December 22, 2008As is customary for me this time of year, I take occasional breaks from eating Christmas cookies to ponder the future of our farm, and strengthen the rum-eggnog ratio.
Friday, December 19, 2008After a period in America where idealogical purity and orthodox political practice were the highest virtues, I think we are in for a surprise to see how well mongrelization of political belief can work.
Thursday, December 18, 2008A couple of incidents recently make me question if the ag community is paying attention to anything other than their own backyard.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008This is a time of year to count blessings, and it turns out most of us in industrial agriculture probably don't make our list long enough.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008What really caused the fall of the Roman Empire? Answer: Lack of heavily-subsidized crop insurance.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008Despite strong skepticism by fertilizer execs,
farmers aren't buying their arrogant pricing or their products either. Taking ammonia for one example: [from
The Market - an excellent source for fertilizer information.]
Monday, December 01, 2008One thing that often goes unmentioned in the lively debate over whether to bailout the Big Three, is the peculiar institution of auto dealerships - about which I knew very little until recently.
Friday, November 21, 2008Those wacky Europeans actually went and reformed their farm subsidy program - the infamous CAP. The nerve of those people! Now who are we going to compare to when we need to show how neglected we are vis-a-vis government subsidies?
Thursday, November 20, 2008But what the hey - it made me feel better for a moment.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008And one thing that has really set them off is the proposed auto-industry bailout. Part of the issue is routine anti-union feeling, although I suspect much of that is simple envy. We'd all love to have secure jobs with automatic raises and pay higher than comparable work elsewhere.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008Like erosion from a small trickle of water, our modern western diet is slowly being disassembled by incremental research showing its effects on our bodies.
Monday, October 13, 2008Gosh - that sounds more dangerous than most descriptions I've heard. And trust me, I am going to destroy a little demand for inputs, and I suspect I'm not alone.
Friday, October 10, 2008No wonder it's called clean energy.
