This and That

August 20, 2021

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.

And now for today’s commentary –

I’m going to target a number of timely issues today. But the one in the headlines is the almost
overnight collapse of the Afghan government. In the last 2 or 3 weeks the Taliban has taken
control of the whole country. It is absolute chaos. I have for years hoped we could get out of
Afghanistan. But not like this. After fighting a war for 20 years and spending more than $1
trillion, we have nothing. Think about our own fighters that died and their families. The Biden
administration did not have a departure plan. It is humiliating. The whole world is watching.
I need to turn the page. Food insecurity in the world is up 32% from 2020. That is 1.2 billion
hungry people. The COVID –19 pandemic has caused supply problems. In addition – incomes
are lower and prices higher. The nations that hurt the worst are in Asia and Africa. The United
States government is the leader in delivering humanitarian assistance. Big challenge.

Let’s turn back to USA. Last month immigrants detained crossing our southern border set a new record of 200,000. Some are returned to the country from which they came. However, 83,000 – that is 43% were released in the U.S. We don’t know where they go. In addition, thousands are not caught at the border. They go where they want to go. This is a crisis, and we are not dealing with it effectively. I know that we need immigrants, but we should select the ones that we want and bring them in legally.

Last on this week’s list – Turn to pigs. We raise pigs on my farm. I grew up with pigs – showing
my pigs at the 4-H show, Knox County Fair and Illinois State Fair. But my pigs were not wild.
Our southern states have a lot of wild pigs. They have been moving northward. They are in
southern Illinois. My sows run in the field – not locked in pens in a barn. I worry about the wild
pigs. They can spread disease. We don’t have African Swine Fever yet in the U.S., but wild pigs
brought it into Germany. I bring this up because it is a serious risk to be concerned about.

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