An Urban's Rural View

In which, with humility, forecasts for 2022 are made and distinguished from wishes for the year.

To slow inflation, the Federal Reserve looks likely to begin raising interest rates next year. Higher rates are not the ideal cure for the inflation afflicting farmers. Plus, they'll raise borrowing costs.

America's political polarization goes beyond left versus right. A new study shows how deep are the differences of opinion within the left and the right.

Jerome Powell's second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board doesn't look like it will be a lot of fun. Inflation is going strong and financial markets are pricing in an interest-rate increase for next May.

The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed into law will make the economy more competitive for decades to come. It was a bipartisan victory as much as Biden's.

President Donald Trump buried free trade. President Joe Biden has no plans to resurrect it.

Portugal is a small country with diverse agriculture and a successful strategy for dealing with COVID-19.

The DTN Ag Summit is an in-person event this year and it's a particularly good year to consider attending.

AUKUS, the pact between the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia under which the French lost a big submarine contract, puts new strains on U.S.-EU relations.

As optimal temperatures move north, Siberia's permafrost will melt, potentially opening up a vast new area to farming. But will anyone want to farm it?

If you believe a paper from two prominent economists, the national debt is far from out of control.

Calls for an Infrastructure Week diverted criticism from President Donald Trump but otherwise led nowhere. Washington needs to focus a whole year on doing something about infrastructure.

The president-elect has given some clues about his approach to China but many questions remain.

Exit polls suggest the urban-rural political divide wasn't as big this election as it was in 2016.

They may both be superpowers, but the U.S. and China don't get much respect these days in surveys of international opinion.

Should the U.S. abandon "strategic ambiguity" and tell China it will defend Taiwan militarily?

We can still buy wonderful fruits, vegetables and meat at the Newport Farmer's Market in Newport, Oregon, but the coronavirus has closed down many of the things we love about it.

The idea that the purpose of a corporation is solely to generate profits for owners is being challenged again, and the challenge could affect farmers and ranchers.

Those unrequested envelopes of seeds from China are the modern-day equivalent of the Trojan Horse.

The president is no longer interested in trade talks with China, and anti-Communist ideologues have become America's voice.