Articles by Jim Webster

“Some deterioration in credit quality” for borrowers in the agricultural sector is evident in a new set of financial indicators of the Farm Credit System posted last week by the system’s federal regulatory agency, the Farm Credit Administration.

If the Trump administration goes ahead with a reported plan to move USDA food assistance programs to a renamed welfare department, it will run counter to the advice of one of the wisest Republican officials to serve agriculture in Washington

Although outright sabotage of livestock operations and animal research facilities has declined in the U.S. since enactment of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) in 2006, the threat of “animal rights” extremists remains. according to a former mink raiser whose Washington-state operation was put out of business by a 2003 raid.

Recently there's been a spike in news media attention to farmer suicides brought on by depressed farm-product prices, but there appears to be a lack of solid data to compare the current incidence of suicide on the farm to that of the mid-1980s farm crisis.

Federal regulation of agricultural biotechnology needs to be based on risk and not on process, a wide range of scientists and food industry executives agreed at the Agri-Pulse Ag and Food Policy Summit.

The overwhelming majority of scientists at USDA appear satisfied that they can do research and publish the results without interference.

The Trump administration’s approach to mergers and acquisitions in the agriculture-related industries appears to follow the antitrust enforcement policies of previous administrations, in the view of a former Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust lawyer.

Political pundits who see a “blue wave” for Democrats in the November election may need to consult a Midwestern congresswoman’s sobering assessment of Democratic performance and chances in Middle America.