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Chris Bennett

Writing from the level land of the Delta just outside of Clarksdale, Miss., Bennett has blogged for several years on agriculture, surrounded by cotton and plenty of cottonmouths.

Latest Stories
Gary Kempker and Family
Farmland
Farm Family Forced to Fight Big Business and Bureaucracy After Years of Cropland Access Denials
Gary Kempker loses $40,000 per year because he cannot access his own farmland. The government, Kempker says, has turned a blind eye in favor of big business.
February 14, 2023 08:08 AM
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Chris Bennett
DANNY MURPHY AND CODY PARKER
Crop Production
Adios to the Ag Dollar: A Farmer’s Story on Inflation and Inputs
Danny Murphy once paid $10 for a bag of soybean seed, 18 to 30 cents per gallon for diesel, $200 per ton of urea, $20 per day for hired labor, and $25 cash rent. That was then; this is now.
February 01, 2023 02:04 PM
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Chris Bennett
Ken Ferrie
Crop Production
Farm Legend in the Making, Ken Ferrie Delivers Bare-Bones Crop Truth
Agriculture’s simple kind of man, Ken Ferrie is all fact and no flash, with a stellar reputation for honesty. “A farmer wants one thing from me, the truth.”
January 23, 2023 08:36 AM
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Chris Bennett
China Population Crash
World Markets
Future Shock: U.S. Agriculture Sleeping on China’s Historic Population Crash
China, the top food importer on the planet and biggest buyer in history, is entangled in a potentially devastating population crash and the effect could be massive for U.S. agriculture.
January 18, 2023 03:07 PM
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Chris Bennett
Tony Lyon
Farmland
Where’s the Beef: Con Artist Turns Texas Cattle Industry Into $100M Playground
In just a few buck-wild months in 2015, a Texas grifter pulled off a swindle nearing $100M, and turned the cattle industry into his playground, stirring more cash than some of the largest beef companies in the U.S.
January 18, 2023 08:51 AM
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Chris Bennett
RUSSELL HEDRICK RECORD CORN YIELD
Corn
Corn Yield Record Shattered By Farmer’s 459.51 Dryland Bushels
Russell Hedrick smashed dryland corn yield records in 2022. He averaged 268 bushels across his operation, including 40 acres at 368 bpa—bookended by a contest spot at a stunning 459.51 bpa.
January 12, 2023 09:38 AM
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Chris Bennett
John Deere's steel plow at the Smithsonian
Crop Production
How John Deere Turned Steel into Gold and Won Farming’s Plow Wars
When John Deere carted home a broken bandsaw blade and forged a moldboard plow, agriculture and America changed forever. Farm steel changed history.
January 11, 2023 09:09 AM
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Chris Bennett
Pot of Gold: Rancher’s Stunning Indian Artifact Find Brings Past Alive
Corn
Top 10 Stories of 2022: Rancher’s Stunning Indian Artifact Find Brings Past Alive
AgWeb is counting down the top 10 stories of the year. At No. 4, is the story of a 10”-tall clay pot, its unlikely survival and the incredible contents that provide an extremely rare window to the past.
January 05, 2023 01:03 PM
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Chris Bennett
Jim Bowen Kills Two 6’-plus Timber Rattlers
Soybeans
Top 10 Stories of 2022: Weeks Apart, Farmer Kills Two 6’-plus Timber Rattlers
AgWeb is counting down the top 10 stories of the year. At No. 2, Jim Bowen has a scar from a cottonmouth bite, but when he crossed paths with two leviathan-size timber rattlers, it was almost more than he could handle.
January 05, 2023 12:54 PM
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Chris Bennett
Grant Hilbert -- No. 1 Story of 2022
Farmland
Top 10 Stories of 2022: Young Farmer Makes History, Uses Video Games and YouTube to Buy $1.8M Farm
AgWeb is counting down the top 10 stories of the year. At No. 1, with one foot in the crop rows and another in gaming, Grant Hilbert operates two YouTube channels and is releasing a video game aimed at Midwest ag.
January 05, 2023 12:52 PM
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Chris Bennett
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