By John Stencel Picture this: A devastating hurricane, arguably the worst one to hit in a decade, rips through several states. There is widespread damage to homes and other buildings. Roads and bridges must be repaired before they can be used.” Not unexpectedly, the governors of the affected states declare them disaster areas, and emergency [...]

By John Stencel The ink has been dry for several months now on the 2002 farm bill, and USDA staffers are settling in to the arduous task of writing the rules that will govern its provisions. Just as producers lobbied for passage of the new farm bill, they need to stay informed and participate in [...]

By John Stencel It is an established fact that Colorado is in a drought, possibly the worst drought on record. Wheat production is one-third normal and ranchers are selling off herds and flocks in unprecedented numbers because they cannot afford to feed them. I commend the Denver-based media outlets for raising the public’s awareness of [...]

By John Stencel The ruling, June 21, by South Dakota Federal District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann that the beef checkoff program is “unconstitutional and unenforceable” because it violates the First Amendment should serve as an opportunity for beef producers to control promotions of their product. The initial idea of the checkoff—to pool producer monies [...]

By John Stencel Weather conditions throughout the majority of Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico are now classified as “extreme drought.” While the advent of restrictions on lawn watering over the past several weeks has caused consumers along the Front Range to become more aware of the drought, farmers and ranchers throughout the region have been [...]

By John Stencel As of May 8, both houses of Congress have passed the farm bill, and President George Bush is expected to sign it. Applicable to the 2002 crop year, the legislation—while still lacking in some areas—is a considerable improvement to the previous “freedom to farm” bill that has bankrupted family producers and cost [...]

By William Lee-Ashley Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) members see themselves as progressive forces in the rural Rocky Mountain West. Whether they are Republican or Democrat, members are united in the common belief that the full-fledged crisis in farm and ranch country demands innovative solutions and a strong voice. They look to each other, through [...]

By John Stencel As Middle Eastern tensions escalate and allies in the U.S. war on terror seem less than committed, it is time to again reexamine U.S. energy policy. Unfortunately, it is only in times of worldwide unrest—more specifically, when prices at the pump spike—that there is any talk of developing alternative fuel sources. We [...]

By John Stencel A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report documents what has been a trend over the past generation or more. According to the report, released Feb. 21, only 12 percent of households operating farms or ranches say the farm/ranch income was their largest source of income in 2000. The remaining 88 percent said [...]

By John Stencel Fred Macy, a young farmer from Pine Bluffs, Wyo., who attended the National Farmers Union’s 100th Anniversary Convention, March 1-4, in Irving and Point, Texas, summed up the experience best when he said it was exciting to reflect on Farmers Union’s history while getting to know the leaders that will launch Farmers [...]

By John Stencel Organic food production is a growing market that offers a good opportunity for many producers in the Rocky Mountain area. The U.S. organic food industry is growing at an estimated 15-20 percent per year. Colorado is on the leading edge of this trend, leading the nation in the number of open range [...]

By Paul Stout I am taking this opportunity to speak to you not as your Rocky Mountain Farmers Union vice president, but as a fellow member and farmer, to put in my two cents worth regarding the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and its website showing farm program payment recipients from 1995 to 2000. I spent [...]

By John Stencel The recent posting of all federal farm program recipients on the Environmental Working Group’s web site has raised the ire of farmers and renewed the debate of what role the government should play in production agriculture. I recently spoke with Randy Adler, a Longmont, Colo. farmer who was listed in the Longmont [...]

By Paul Stout This is my first opportunity to address the membership since the convention, so bear with me. First I want to begin by thanking those who voted for me and for this great opportunity to serve. I want to give a special thanks to Kent Peppler, Mike Goranson, Dale Petty, Lawrence Gallegos, Marvin [...]

By John Stencel I was elected Rocky Mountain Farmers Union president Nov. 17, at RMFU’s 93rd Annual Convention in Pueblo. I expect that I have met many of you in the past, as I served as RMFU president from 1970 until 1993. I left RMFU eight years ago for an appointment as Colorado state executive [...]

By Dave Carter The Lufthansa advertisement in the Newsweek magazine delivered to my house on September 11 was very simple. The photograph in the ad placed the viewer on the streets of a major city, looking upward through a maze of high-rise buildings to a jet plane soaring overhead. It was designed to convey a [...]

By Dave Carter WASHINGTON, D.C.—Everything just changed. It’s time we change just about everything. Including food policy. A delegation of farmers and ranchers from the Rocky Mountain region were in the Capitol complex lobbying on long-term farm policy this week when the first reports came in that an airliner had plunged into one of the [...]

By Dave Carter What is the role of the federal Farm Bill in guiding the structure of American agriculture anyway? Opponents of federal farm programs have argued for decades that Uncle Sam had no legitimate role in meddling in the farm marketplace. Eliminate farm programs, they claimed, and let the efficient farmers survive. In the [...]

By William Lee-Ashley We all know the old adage about a free lunch . . . that there is no such thing. The question is, do we dare say the same of the free market? In school I was told how the operation of the free market, unhindered by monopolies or government regulation, was the [...]

By Dave Carter Ever since the advent of the automobile, parents have used car keys as a powerful disciplinary tool with their teenagers – keys to the family car are regularly yanked when kids fail to prove their maturity. It is time to apply that same principle to international trade agreements. More than a decade [...]