This is fantastic. Ag production doesn’t have to be an environmental drain. There are better ways! Another good example from my neck of the woods (or prairie in this case?) of ranchers doing right by the land.
Wonderful. I grew up in Manhattan and knew the Flint Hills.
This repeats a century-old pattern. In 1918 the feds encouraged inexperienced farmers to plow poor land for a quick profit on “war food”. The Dust Bowl was the result. The New Deal under Henry Wallace trained farmers in what we now call “regenerative” methods and solved the Dust Bowl. Now we have the same overproduction for the same Wall Street masters, so it’s good to see new Henry Wallaces!
Excellent piece Andrew. I’ll need to re-read…🤔. And those were not just “birds” in the flooded rice fields. Those were snow geese!! Holy Moley!! I’d love to see a flock of snows like that!
Thanks so much Jim! I'd been sitting on this one for a little, uncertain of whether I should say some of these things out loud. It's a fairly good summary of my general thoughts on ag & ecology in the U.S. It's long, but one of the things I appreciate about Substack is having the latitude to do long form pieces when it feels right. I really appreciate you thinking about coming back to this one with time. Of all the states, I genuinely believe IA has some of the highest potential to come along in these kinds of innovative directions. Re: snow geese. The birds in the CA rice fields are truly stupendous! It is not uncommon to see snow geese, although this photo def contains more than usual!!
Question: When you talk about agriculture, what crops are you really referring to?
Well, all of it. But in the U.S. the top commodities are livestock, corn, soy, dairy and chickens. So those would be the obvious places to start.
Got it.
Those are not my areas of speciatly. (I am more a fresh produce "guy'.)
I will hold comments as mine are just opinions in those categories.
Fresh produce - very important!!
This is fantastic. Ag production doesn’t have to be an environmental drain. There are better ways! Another good example from my neck of the woods (or prairie in this case?) of ranchers doing right by the land.
https://kansasreflector.com/2025/12/29/flint-hills-rancher-works-to-restore-biodiversity-of-imperiled-kansas-tallgrass-prairie-ecosystems/
Awesome story - Loved this line!
"Some native species like rattlesnake master and compass plant, he said, are a “snickers bar” to cows."
Wonderful. I grew up in Manhattan and knew the Flint Hills.
This repeats a century-old pattern. In 1918 the feds encouraged inexperienced farmers to plow poor land for a quick profit on “war food”. The Dust Bowl was the result. The New Deal under Henry Wallace trained farmers in what we now call “regenerative” methods and solved the Dust Bowl. Now we have the same overproduction for the same Wall Street masters, so it’s good to see new Henry Wallaces!
Dude - way to go. This is outstanding!
Thanks so much Chris!
Excellent piece Andrew. I’ll need to re-read…🤔. And those were not just “birds” in the flooded rice fields. Those were snow geese!! Holy Moley!! I’d love to see a flock of snows like that!
Thanks so much Jim! I'd been sitting on this one for a little, uncertain of whether I should say some of these things out loud. It's a fairly good summary of my general thoughts on ag & ecology in the U.S. It's long, but one of the things I appreciate about Substack is having the latitude to do long form pieces when it feels right. I really appreciate you thinking about coming back to this one with time. Of all the states, I genuinely believe IA has some of the highest potential to come along in these kinds of innovative directions. Re: snow geese. The birds in the CA rice fields are truly stupendous! It is not uncommon to see snow geese, although this photo def contains more than usual!!