American agriculture lost one of its best friends this weekend, when Mark Pearson, longtime host of Iowa Public Television’s Market to Market show, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack. He was 54. Pearson, who helped the world understand the complex world of agriculture through good and bad times alike, had a unique way of [...]

Farmers have always loved their land and sought to keep it in the family for generations.But there may be one objective that’s even more important: Preserving the wealth created by that land for future generations. That’s more complicated today because of two factors: (1) The dramatic increase in farmland prices of the last couple of [...]

As I write this, American diplomats are dealing with the awkward situation of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who got crossways with Chinese authorities and took temporary asylum in the U.S. embassy. So what does that have to do with farmland? Not much — at least, not directly. Neither does North Korea’s recent missile test. Or [...]

The Murray Wise Associates Foundation faced a quandary a couple of weeks ago when we were short on scholarship applicants just a couple of days before the deadline for applications. In fact, we had more scholarships to award than we had candidates. In order to uphold our high standards, we extended the deadline and made [...]

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen an owner of farmland who’s ready to sell his land but can’t — simply because he’s saddled with a long-term lease that makes it impossible to get what would otherwise be a fair market price. It happens to all of us for perfectly good reasons. We [...]

When there’s a lot of demand for an asset — like there is currently for farmland — it’s easy to get the idea that selling it is a cinch. So it’s tempting for a seller to assume he can do it himself, or hire the lowest-cost broker around to handle the transaction. This can especially [...]

Farmland prices in Iowa rose by an average of 23.7 percent in the last 12 months, and that’s what passes for a slowdown these days. (The numbers came from the semiannual survey by the Iowa Farm & Land Chapter of the Realtors Land Institute.) We’ve heard — and talked about — these huge numbers throughout [...]

The agriculture industry feeds not only our nation, but much of the rest of the world, at reasonable prices. Naturally, that requires a lot of natural resources, and the industry sometimes gets criticized by environmentalists. But an increasing number of farmers and related businesses are seeking ways to reduce their energy use and carbon footprint. [...]

Dairy Today reports that Indiana is tightening manure regulations for dairy and beef cattle producers. Starting July 1, producers with 300 or more dairy or beef cattle will be required to have 180 days of manure storage — a 50 percent increase from the current requirement of 120 days. Dairy Today also reported that Indiana [...]