An Urban's Rural View

Three farmers emailed detailed thoughts on whether economics or cultural issues better explain why the countryside votes increasingly Republican even as Democrats make electoral gains in the suburbs.

Depositors in Silicon Valley Bank were protected, but what happens to the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation as a result?

Pundits struggle to explain why the Democrats now get more than half of their votes in the suburbs while the Republicans dominate in rural America far more than in the past.

News headlines said the FDA allowed plant-based beverages to be called milk. That's true. But what the agency required of those beverages is more important.

Could Vietnam become an even bigger market for U.S. agricultural products?

Legislators are debating whether to ban Chinese investments in U.S. agriculture or subject them to greater scrutiny.

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 0.25% on Feb. 1. At previous meetings the increases had been 0.75% and 0.5%. But there are likely more rate hikes ahead.

Do both yourself and your heirs a favor. Write a brief, (or lengthy, if you prefer) autobiography -- or at least your own obituary.

To maintain the current level of ag exports, much less expand them, Uncle Sam must do more than just basic blocking and tackling.

Americans will probably always be polarized, but they can still deal with each other as people rather than ideological stereotypes.

The Federal Reserve is warning interest rates will go higher and stay higher longer. Financial markets aren't convinced.

In a war with China over Taiwan, war games suggest the U.S. could run out of munitions in a week.

A new book makes a compelling case for preserving the world's big five megaforests and 2,000 intact forest landscapes.

Americans don't wait for the government to do everything. We roll up our sleeves and do some of it ourselves. Be thankful for that.

Finding reason for hope in two election-week events that some might view less sanguinely.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's success in knocking an asteroid off course is, as NASA's director says, "a watershed moment for planetary defense and a watershed moment for humanity."

China's president professes a fondness for Iowa but U.S.-China relations have spiraled downward on his watch nonetheless. With relations getting chillier, the U.S. and China need a crisis-management mechanism.

Farmers are always free not to use conservation easements, but there's no reason to demonize them.

U.S. companies sell a lot of semiconductors but increasingly make them overseas. The government is spending big bucks to encourage more domestic production.

The techno-optimists have been right (and the Malthusians wrong) about agriculture's ability to keep up with population growth, but a new book challenges techno-optimism on the decarbonization front.