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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
GE to the Rescue
February 27 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—
It’s not new news to report that genetically engineered products are under assault. We are in free trade talks with Europe. The EU public is adamantly opposed to GE food. There are bills in 23 of our state legislatures to label foods that…
Global Warming
February 20 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—
We are experiencing one of the coldest winters that we have seen in decades. The news is reporting about all the flights cancelled. It has been a challenge on our farm to make sure we have the heat for our baby pigs. Natural gas prices have…
McDonald’s Is OK
February 13 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—
Here is a new way to lose weight. Go on a steady diet of fast food – nothing else, just McDonald’s.
John Cisna and 3 of his students dined at McDonald’s, and only McDonald’s, for 90 days – 270 consecutive meals, and they lost weight. He did…
Farm Bill at Last
February 6 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—
After two years of debate, political fights involving the nutrition advocates and farm groups, we have a farm bill. Remember, 80% of the $956 billion is for food programs and the remaining 20% is for farm support.
The $8 billion reduction in…
Wish List
January 30 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—
Last year in January, I announced my wish list for 2013. Today, let’s review that list and see how we did.
Wish Number 1: “Get a farm bill passed.” Well, we’re still wishing.
Wish Number 2: “Deal with our immigration problem. If we don’t,…
FDA 2014 - Busy, Busy, Busy!
January 23 2014
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block. 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—
While often the subject of criticism for delay or inaction on important regulatory matters, FDA has been busy, busy, busy as we start 2014.
With Barack Obama no longer running for President…
China Rejects Our Corn
January 16 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—
As complex as the world trading system has become, it still relies on something as simple as trust. Basically, it requires that those who enter into mutually agreed contracts will abide by the terms of those contracts. Unfortunately, in the last…
OSHA Strikes Again
January 9 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—
You can’t make it up. It’s real. OSHA is after us again. They are so creative. I got my details on this latest regulatory overreach from last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal and former Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns. “Since the 1970s…
Our Water Transportation
January 2 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—
Happy New Year. I threw away my 2013 calendar and hung up the new one. There is a lot to get done in the new year. But, today I want to talk about one specific project. We need to modernize our water transportation system. Our locks and dams…
Look Back at 2014
January 1 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—
Year 2014 is history now. It seemed like a lot of bad things happened. After fighting in the Middle East for more than a decade to neutralize the terrorists and bring stability to Iraq, overnight Islamic State militants took over half of Syria…
