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January 26, 2023
January 26, 2023
Hello, everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the
National Corn Growers Association, CropLife America, and Renewable Fuels Association.
They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural
America. Thank you.
It is time for our government to go to work. The Senate and House both are in the process of
naming who will serve on the different committees. The Republican-led house is scheduled to
take up a GOP energy bill. It will direct the Biden Administration to come up with a plan to
increase oil and gas production on federal land before drawing down our Strategic Petroleum
Reserve anymore. We know President Biden does not want the U.S. to pump more oil. He wants
to buy it from other countries. What will happen? We shall see.
In farm country the need to pass a new farm bill is at the top of our list. Paul Ryan, former House
Speaker speaking at the International Dairy Foods Association Forum last Sunday predicts that
we will pass a new farm bill this year. House Ag Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson and
Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow will give us that bipartisan ag leadership
that we need. I am optimistic.
Focus on Mexico. Yes – China is our biggest ag export market, but Mexico is close behind.
Mexico wants to ban imports of genetically modified corn. Our U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack
said that’s not going to happen. Good job Mr. Secretary. Keep the pressure on.
Another subject- the worst avian influenza outbreak we have ever had. The bird flu attack started
about 1 year ago. When you get it, the whole poultry flock must be destroyed. 58 million poultry
in 47 states are gone. Egg farmers are not insured. The virus has been devastating. Protecting the
flocks has not been easy. Wild birds flying North or South just spread it everywhere.
I have not talked about this new subject, but it is in the news every day. We all remember all of
the news and attention focused on secret government documents found at President Trump’s
Mar-a-Lago resort. The national news media was attacking Trump every day. Now President
Biden is in the hot seat. The FBI is investigating. They seem to find secret papers almost
wherever they look. I know some people thought President Trump should be put in jail for his
reckless handling of secret papers. Now they have to think about President Biden’s problem.
Now we have news that former Vice President Pence has some classified papers in his home. I
guess President Trump is not alone.
If you would like to review Jack Block’s radio shows going back more than 20 years, just go
online to www.johnblockreports.com.
Previous Weeks
Measles, GMs and Science
February 18 2015
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
Who would have ever predicted that measles would have been in the headlines day after day? I didn’t think anyone got measles today. Not the case when I was a kid. Everyone had measles and whooping cough and mumps. No big deal. The most…
Chicken and Eggs
February 12 2015
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
The State of California has a reputation for leading in many ways – especially in the area of government regulations. Now, they have bit off almost more than they can chew. Certainly, the poor will not be chewing on many eggs since the State…
Our Budget
February 5 2015
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
Did you write a budget for your farm, your business, or your family? If you did, you are well ahead of the federal government. We haven’t had a budget in 5 years. Hopefully, that will change this year with Republicans in charge of both House…
Oil
January 29 2015
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
The biggest story of 2014 is not the turmoil in the Middle East, not about China, or Islamic Terrorism. The story is oil. Go to the farm in Illinois and you can fill up your car for less than $2 per gallon. I’m looking forward to cheaper…
Wish List
January 22 2015
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
Last year in January, I presented my wish list for 2014. Let’s take a look at how that worked out.
Wish No. 1: “Get a farm bill passed.” To my surprise, we did.
Wish No. 2: “Deal with our immigration problem.” Well, the Congress didn’t, but…
Gas Tax
January 15 2015
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
How many of you out there think that we would be well-advised to spend some money repairing our roads and bridges? What about our locks and dams and seaports that carry our grain to countries around the world? Are you aware that our Federal…
Cabinet Luncheon
January 8 2015
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
Before Christmas, I hosted the annual Cabinet Secretaries lunch at the famous Blair House. The Blair House is right across the street from the White House. It provides overnight lodging for dignitaries visiting the President. In fact, the…
Cuba at Last
December 25 2014
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
I hope you had a Merry Christmas. This is a time to be grateful for our blessings. I know, for some, life can be a challenge. However, just look at the world and all the suffering and chaos. The Middle East is burning. Ukraine can’t escape the…
Our Debt Challenge
December 17 2014
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
Congratulations to our government officials. They appropriated the money to fund our government until the fiscal year ends next October. Now we can all take a big sigh of relief.
I’m glad they did it. We don’t want to shut the government down.…
WOTUS
December 11 2014
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by Monsanto, and John Deere. They are all friends, supporters, and allies of a healthy farm economy and prosperous rural America. Thank you.
And now for today’s commentary—
Have you heard about “WOTUS”? In farm country, it is, or certainly should be, a big deal – a major concern. WOTUS stands for “Waters of the U.S.” EPA is pushing a new rule to dramatically expand their authority to regulate. Is this any…
