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…

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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,…

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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 all know that Republicans and Democrats are at each others’ throats and we can’t seem to get anything done. It also appears that President Obama has not demonstrated the kind of leadership to move things along. No one wants to take…

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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 don’t have a budget yet. We don’t have a farm bill. House Ag Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) hopes to have a draft bill by week’s end. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senate Ag Committee Chairman acknowledges there are a lot of differences…

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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—  

Will we get a farm bill or won’t we get a farm bill? No one knows at this point. There are still a number of unanswered questions.  

The biggest fight is over how much to cut the spending on food stamps. We have 50 million people receiving…

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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— 

Farm bill negotiations are not the only important thing going on right now. Ballots are being collected in Washington State that could force labels on foods and beverages that contain GMOs. Will it pass? We don’t know but if it does, it…

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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— 

Earlier this week, I was a speaker at Kansas State University. I wasn’t alone. I shared the podium with 5 other former Secretaries of Agriculture – Mike Espy and Dan Glickman (Democrats) and Ann Veneman, Mike Johanns, and Ed Schafer…

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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 returned to Washington, D.C. earlier this week from the farm in Illinois. The farm visit, as always, was so refreshing. To escape the political fights and federal government dysfunction helped to clear my head. 

First, I believe that the…

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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 I said last week, “I’m headed to the farm in Illinois.” I went to the farm twice in May, hoping we could get some corn planted. It rained both times. However, somehow, in between rains, we got it in the ground. Last week as…

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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 week, I said the farm bill was fighting its way to the finish line. Well, it didn’t make it. In a vote of 234 to 195, agriculture was dealt a stunning defeat.

What happened? Only 21 Democrats voted for the bill. …

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