Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

World Crop Quick Update

In this rare Sunday edition, just a quick update. We are nearing harvest close up north as the weather changes and nightly freezes make morning harvests a challenge for whatever goodies are still left on the stalks. I doubt much is left in the actual fields up north, but down south, second harvest has come […]

Fed’s Powell Sees Agriculture Inflation Continuing

Agri-Economist and farmer Michael Smith talking inflationary impacting crops and farmers. Higher inflation rates “will likely remain so in the coming months,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged today in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. Powell has been in meeting this week discussing the persistent inflation going into next year.  Powell noted the effects […]

Coffee read this morning. High crop prices 2021

Farmer – Economist Michael Smith talks crop prices, Will History Repeat Itself?, AG WEB Farm Journal, Jerry Gulke High crop prices, like much what is going on in the greater economy might be transitory. The author keeps up the tone that high prices in the silage department usually only last a few months. We are […]

Millions of India’s farmers fight for their economic lives

As a bit of a comparison, the 2018 Distribution of Federal Payroll and Income Taxes shows 761,000 household taxpayers making up 4 tenths of 1% of all taxpayers having the highest income in the US. I am not sure if we can get it as finite as what India shows in wealth. With a population […]