Latest News From John Phipps

Farmers have struggled with the same business and family problem essentially forever: what happens to the farm when parents die. The conflict between fairness and equality has never been truly resolved.

While the Farmers' Almanac and Old Farmer's Almanac are both backward looking – derived from past data that come close to current conditions. Weather agencies are tending more toward predictive computer models.

Declining populations might contribute to environmental improvement but worsen rural quality of life

As more Americans become hooked on weight-loss medication, the impact on farmers could be substantial as more and cheaper versions of these drugs are released in the next few months.

Recently a new theory of comprehending Chinese government action has emerged and seems plausible if not likely: Xi Jinping may not be the sharpest pencil in the box, even borderline incompetent.

A larger issue than foreign ownership of U.S. land is potentially being overlooked.

There are efforts underway to mitigate the concern about losing farmland to solar panels. One of these is agrivoltaics, which is combining agriculture with solar installations, and it's already turning heads in Canada.

New veterinarians are overwhelmingly women, and technology is helping entice more female farmers. Are women on track to become the majority in agriculture? John Phipps provides his thoughts in Customer Support.

We have gradually resigned ourselves to Brazil being the leader, but last year they also took the top spot for corn exports, a tougher fact to swallow. There is more going on for the 2023-2024 growing season in Brazil.

Unused front doors — some even unopenable, without a porch or stoop or a sidewalk — make it clear the accepted and expected traffic pattern is through the back door.  

Carbon pipelines are stirring up controversy. According to John Phipps, projects like pipelines, transmission lines or solar arrays are bitterly and usually unsuccessfully opposed, but only by those affected.

One idea that has gained traction is USDA surveys may not be as accurate as current technology, especially satellite imagery, especially since the number of satellites has ballooned and the price has dropped.

“Farmers are likely far down the list of threatened occupations.”

At the top of our spinal cord sits the reptilian brain, which is responsible for instinctive responses when we smell, see, hear and touch certain things. Here are a few instant triggers for farmers. Read with caution.

With all the talk about artificial intelligence, there's a new debate: is AI actually real or just a combination of Siri and other search databases? John Phipps addresses a U.S. Farm Report viewer's skepticism.

Oddly, while global AA battery consumption has been widely publicized, with it being a suspiciously round number, AAA battery sales are obscure.

As residences in my area turn into stony, weedy spots in cornfields, traffic has slowed to a trickle, making a car passing a pretty big event.

Our efforts to make our farms ongoing businesses and family legacies will have fewer schedules to emulate.

It’s written on the back of every medicine bottle and next to the shocking price sticker on exercise equipment and hidden somewhere in nearly every terms of agreement: Consult Your Physician Before Using. 

Ag families experience recessions most tangibly through their non-farm personal connections, making them worth watching, regardless of farm economics.  

Polyester’s popularity was prompted by economics (it’s cheap), and properties such as non-shrinking and, most importantly, fashion. 

Once the Internet had introduced us to the concept of the meme, we started seeing them everywhere. Mostly because they had always been there and the word “meme” hadn’t become a, well, meme yet. 

Has U.S. gasoline demand peaked? And what will more electric vehicles mean for gasoline prices down the road? John Phipps looks into the issue in John's World.

Much ink and many pixels have been wasted, in my opinion, on rants about people other than U.S. farmers owning farmland. Surprisingly, critics are just as hard on wealthy Americans as foreigners.

More than usual, farm budgets are teetering on the prices of inputs, notably fertilizer. However, another fertility problem is quietly reshaping farm life.

As the world accumulates records of all human activity, from video to searchable text, the power of living memory to command respect and add perspective is fading. 

Pauline Maier’s exhaustive research for "American Scripture" exposes the stirring mental image of a young patriot thoughtfully creating timeless sentences in magisterial script as the view from a distance.

The Guest of Christmas Future shares hints about the holiday.

Starlink might be a fit for any user, but deep in the boonies, it’s a near miracle.

Based on technology of last resort, we can look back from the Zip-tie Age, Duct Tape Age and Tarp Strap Age to one of the longest, the Baling Wire Age.

Bins of steel. Smorgasbord abs. More buffalo than buff. If these phrases describe you, fellow farmers, you are not alone. 

Given today’s disconnection and selfishness, fretting over how people feel about work might be misplaced concern.  

“First rainy day, I’ll fix that.” This sacred vow is more than a sincere commitment, it is a solemn contract with ourself, the person we hold in the highest esteem. 

Once you’ve experienced the world at 10 mph you can’t endure slower.  There are collateral consequences.

Mike Duncan has produced another readable history lesson with this biography of a remarkable figure whose participation in arguably the two most influential revolutions in history required that early start.

Nine farmers signed the the Declaration of Independence. One who isn't listed in the National Archives could also be categorized as one of the Founding Fathers who gave virtually all for the cause of independence

Dive into these 13 trends that could impact your farm.

My thoughtful explanation about replacing sliced bread with pop-tarts as the “greatest thing since” was refuted by readers who listed their alternatives. 

Information arrives every day in our lives as a mashup of seemingly unconnected ideas, facts and guesses. 

In a time when colleges are jettisoning history departments, Mike Duncan’s work reminds us the importance of knowing how we got here, and how little politicians and political strife have changed.

Why farmers long to be understood by non-farmers mystifies me. First, I’m not sure I understand farmers, since there is no stereotypical farmer, just a bunch of similar but equally puzzling individuals. 

With humankind now assuming bread is born in pieces, it’s time to get a new greatest thing.

If Latin is Greek to you, allow me to translate: “Things are awful these days, especially Japanese camp food, and it’s other people’s fault. Mostly young people.” 

The pandemic is now old enough to talk, and it’s telling us things about our actions and choices that suggest an unfamiliar future.

While it still pops up in conversation, the “supply chain” has become our go-to explanation for things that are not our fault — and some that are.

With "The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency", political scientist and Cato Scholar John Mueller has accomplished a remarkable feat.

In my arsenal of reasons why things aren’t my fault, recent events have given me a cruise-missile-strength weapon: the supply chain.

After ransomware attacks hit two co-ops and an equipment auction site last year, John Phipps says his guess is tractors being hacked to override factory engine or emission controls are ripe for self-inflicted hacks.

I have long maintained everyone should be required do their own income taxes.

With tax season fast approaching, we pulled this great John Phipps column from the Farm Journal archives.