John Block Reports
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PNTR for Russia
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Russia was welcomed into the World Trade Organization last month. That was a very important step which will require Russia to live by predictable and reasonable and enforceable trading rules. It should be...
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Flood of Regulations
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Our farmers, ranchers, and small businesses are about to be drowned in a flood of government regulations. This Administration has put on hold the final rules until after the election. Talk about...
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Serious Problems
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— The first thing I want to put on the table is – “the wolves are back.” After settling our country, farmers, ranchers, and trappers got rid of almost all of the grey wolves. Along came the Endangered...
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HSUS Attacks
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 grew up showing pigs at the Knox County 4-H show. The first talk I gave at my 4-H Club when I was 10 years old was: “What I Feed My Pig.” As a pig farmer, I have paid money to the pork industry “check...
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Death Spiral
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Look at our debt. Sixteen trillion dollars and rising. For every dollar our government spends, we have to borrow 40 cents. Are we in as bad a shape as Greece? No. Not yet, but if we stay on this path, we...
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Busy Times
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 seems like there is a lot going on all around us. We are right in the middle of harvest on the farm – corn and soybeans a little more than half done. I’ll be on the combine next week, weather...
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California’s Preposterous Prop 37
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— On Election Day, California voters will decide on another food labeling ballot initiative, one that is being watched intently by the food industry. If it...
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Election Predictions
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 about 10 days away from the election. Most of the focus has been on the Presidential race. However, let’s not forget that there are 3 branches of government. We have the Executive – that’s the...
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HSUS on the Offensive
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— The pig auditors are on the way. Get ready for them. Yes, it’s a fact. A week ago, I received a letter from Tyson Foods stating that they will be coming to my farm to perform an audit to see how we raise...
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Farm Broadcasters Annual Convention
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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’m talking to you by phone from Kansas City where the Farm Broadcasters Annual Convention is in progress. Yesterday, I was privileged to have been part of their featured Newsmaker Session with Secretary...
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Denmark
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 have an organization called the Agribusiness Club that meets monthly for lunch. This year, I am serving as Chairman of the group. I invited Kansas Senator Pat Roberts to speak to us this week. Senator...
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Thanksgiving
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 just celebrated Thanksgiving. I know some of our citizens might have wondered if the good outweighs the bad. We have 8% unemployment. We suffered the worst drought in decades. Our economy is sputtering....
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Food Waste
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Every time I pick up a paper, I read about hungry people. Just to keep pace, we will have to double food production by 2050. If we don’t raise more food, millions will starve. What are we going to do? O.K....
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The Debt
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 am still fuming over Secretary of the Treasury Geithner’s remarks on CBS Face The Nation last weekend. Of course, he stated again that the way to attack our debt problem is to tax the rich. That’s fine...
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Cabinet Secretaries Lunch
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 Friday, I hosted the Cabinet Secretaries Lunch at the famous Blair House. The Blair House is right across the street from the White House and provides overnight lodging for foreign leaders visiting the...
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Food Stamps for a Week
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— So, the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Cory Booker, went on food stamps for a week. Big deal! He has been on TV and interviewed by countless newspapers. Well, just for the record, I went on food stamps myself...
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Merry Christmas
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 hope you had a Merry Christmas this week. This is a joyous time of year as we celebrate the birth of Christ. Friends and family all come together to give thanks for our blessings. We know everything is not...
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Happy New Year
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Issues
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 talked about the farm bill and prospects for passage. This week, I want to focus on a series of current issues. These are my thoughts: Immigration Reform – We desperately need to get it done. If we don’t, who’s going to milk...
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Odds Ends
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Today, I’m going to hit on several issues. First, a word about the drought. It has been devastating to many farms and small businesses. Not much good will come of it except one thing. Maybe some of the...
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Down on the Farm: State Fair
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 am back from a week at the farm and the Illinois State Fair. I want to review what took place at the Fair. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a Proclamation naming the Illinois State Department of...
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Work to Do
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 don’t ever remember a time when we had such a back log of work and difficult decisions staring us in the face. Every time the federal government spends $1 we have to borrow 40 cents of that dollar. We...
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Federal Crop Insurance
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Is it a big deal? Well, maybe it is. The Senate passed a farm bill this week. The House still must pass one, and the two will have to be reconciled. However, considering the political gridlock that has tied...
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4th of July
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Throughout this political campaign, there has been a lot of talk about the Constitution. The Supreme Court just ruled on the constitutionality of Obama Care. Speakers are quoting Thomas Jefferson to make...
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A Visit to St. Petersburg / Back in the USSR
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block, who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 just returned from summer vacation to the Baltic, including St. Petersburg, Russia. Mother Russia hasn’t really changed all that much...
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Biking in Italy
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 am just back from 12 days in Northern Italy. My family and I bicycled down the valley with the Alps Mountains soaring on either side of us. This was not our first organized bike ride in Europe. Our first...
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Drought Fallout
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 we go again – a short grain crop which means higher prices for wheat, corn, soy beans and on down the line. The fall out will be felt far and wide. The pain will not be shared equally. The drought is...
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Gaffes Galore!
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Be careful what you say. It can get you into trouble. The press is checking. We are all listening. It seems like Romney and Obama get taken to the wood shed every few days for some unintended gaffes. Even...
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Sweet Corn
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— How will we ever be able to increase food production to feed the growing world population if we don’t employ new production technology? The answer is – we can’t. Fortunately for all of us and the world, we...
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Ag Trade
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— The news is full of worrisome problems. We have the drought which is hurting our ag industry and farmers across the heartland. Europe can’t seem to find a fix for their economic crisis. And can we be far...
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A West Point Cadet
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— This week, I attended my West Point class reunion. Memories came flooding back. I had been out of Knoxville High School only a month. I climbed on a train in Galesburg, Illinois – on to Chicago – on to New...
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Farm Programs
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— This is the year that we are supposed to write a new farm bill. Every 5 years, we write a farm bill. Over the years, farm programs and supports have evolved, driven by a series of changes in the U.S. and...
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Time for Sugar to Get with the Times
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Both the House and Senate seem to be moving forward, for now, with reauthorization of the Farm Bill. Senator Stabenow has passed a package out of the Senate Agriculture Committee. The House has hung back a...
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Down on the Farm
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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’m talking to you today by telephone from the farm in Illinois. I was last here a little over a month ago. We were just wrapping up soybean planting then. What a difference that short time span can make. I...
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NAFTA
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Let me review with you a success story that has been a major plus for the U.S. and especially for our ag industry. I’m talking about the North American Free Trade Agreement between U.S., Canada, and Mexico....
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Ag Issues of the Day
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 you know, we win a few and lose a few. After thousands of comments criticizing the Department of Labor’s proposed rule to disallow children under 16 years of age to work on farms, they withdrew the rule....
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Obesity Hunger
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— Just this week on Tuesday, May 15, we celebrated the establishment of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation 150 years ago. It has been a very successful 150...
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Farm Facts
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— When my father started farming 75 years ago, one third of our nation’s population were farmers. Today, only three percent are...
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The Case For Obama
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— Jack Block is on holiday this week. This is Rick Frank sitting in. Remember, I’m Jack’s moderate Democrat colleague. We...
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Child Labor Rules
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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 summer, my grandson – a 13-year-old – worked on my Illinois farm; sounds pretty natural to me. However, it appears that...
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Xi Jinping
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— The Chinese Vice President will arrive in the U.S. next week. You might ask – so what? Well, there is more to this story....
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Predictions
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— Just step back and look at the U.S. and the world. What a mess! Everywhere you look, there is another serious problem. It’s...
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Down On The Farm
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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 was flying from Chicago to Moline, Illinois – heading back to the farm. A gorgeous day with sun and blue sky;...
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Ag Outlook Conference
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— Today, I want to talk about the Ag Outlook Conference held here in Washington, D.C. last week. Two thousand people attended...
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Obesity
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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 was hungry and in a hurry yesterday after a meeting down town. I couldn’t help myself. ducked into McDonald’s and grabbed a...
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Celebrate Agriculture
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— In the past week, there has been a lot going on. At the top of the list – Ag Day. We celebrated the remarkable contribution American agriculture makes to this country and the world. A beautiful dinner was...
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Tabloid Journalism—ABC News Slimes Lean Beef
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block. Reaching new lows in broadcast television journalism, ABC News several weeks ago ran an investigative report unfairly and inaccurately disparaging a safe and...
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Some Good News
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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 seems like every week there is another attack on commercial agriculture and family farms, whether it is the Humane Society, PETA, EPA, Department of Labor, environmentalists – they all want to tell us how...
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Jackson-Vanik
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— The Presidential campaign is in the headlines every day. And the number one priority is to create jobs. Well, if we are serious, there is one thing the Congress can do that will be a big help. They need to...
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Race For The White House
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— With only about 6 months to go before we vote in November, we have a two-man race for the White House. Mitt Romney appears to...
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USDA Anniversary
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— May 15 is almost here. Look back 150 years. Abraham Lincoln was President and he signed a bill establishing the U.S....
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A Look Back At 2011
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, 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— With the new year upon us, I want to look back at 2011. I want to categorize it into the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now for the good – From agriculture’s standpoint, there is a lot of good. The farm...
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Iowa Caucus
Hello everybody out there in farm country. This is Rick Frank sitting in for John Block who is on vacation. This radio commentary is brought to you by the Renewable Fuels Association, Wal-Mart Stores, 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— Thank heavens the Iowa Caucus is over. I’m tired of the candidates arguing with each other. On TV all the time. However...
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