For Americans under 50, inflation is little more than a theoretical concept. But for those of us born in the late 1950s and 1960s, the inflati…
It has been a little while since I’ve done one of these. Most of the time we use this space for some of the columnists our readers tell us the…
I have a confession. I’ve never really understood county fairs.
A couple weeks ago I introduced myself and asked for feedback on what people like about The Country Today and what they’d like to see done dif…
As the new editor for The Country Today, I have just one thing to say to our readers: Help!
The first rule of road trips is to never embark upon a road trip. At least not one like ours: 10 days and 2,500 miles of tent camping in the n…
Tonight we’re a party of five: Dad and daughters and our husbands. Dad’s been eager to try the fish fry at Irvine, the bar where he ate every …
On Sunday, June 23, Shopko’s two Chippewa Valley locations closed after almost three months of “everything must go” prices. In mid-January, Sh…
To the left of the stainless-steel elevator in Eau Claire’s Christ Church Cathedral hangs a plaque which reads: “The Frank and Miriam Carr Car…
I’m no stranger to the country life. I grew up on a dairy farm near Northfield in Jackson County, where neighbors helped each other out withou…
We are deluding ourselves if we think that exports alone will forge a viable future for America’s dairy farm families. We’ve had 25 years of s…
More than half of the U.S. population works for a small business, according to a recent news release from WalletHub, a personal-finance website.
There’s plenty of gloom to go around these days in Wisconsin agriculture, and while the newly released 2017 Census of Agriculture did reveal s…
On April 3, I had the opportunity to testify before the Speaker’s Task Force on Water Quality in Madison.
Now that the worst of the winter of 2018-19 is behind us (we hope so, anyway), the roads are getting busier. Before long, traffic will increas…
“Reality.” It’s a word I’ve run across lately more than I’d like.
Congressional Democrats last month rolled out what they've dubbed the Green New Deal — a sweeping set of economic stimulus proposals aimed at …
This year’s theme for National Agriculture Day, Thursday, March 14, is particularly fitting — “Agriculture: Food for Life.” We all have to eat…
Soil health has been a hot topic in agricultural circles in recent years. The concept of improving long-range crop yields through healthier so…
I remember a conversation with some farmers last October who were excited that they had been contacted by the Wall Street Journal about contri…
Each of us has our own idea of “rural,” based on our personal experiences and perceptions; one person’s small town might be another’s “big-cit…
It’s no secret that consumers, overall, are drinking less milk. The trend line has been consistent, and the statistics are startling. In the p…
We live in stressful times. Those who earn their living in agriculture have faced an extra heaping of stress in recent years due to depressed …
Wisconsin’s new legislative session officially began Jan. 7 with the inauguration of new Gov. Tony Evers and a slate of new legislators.
Happy New Year to you all. I love the optimism and hope the start of a year brings. It’s a chance to press forward with renewed resolve. And w…
“Hope springs eternal,” as the saying goes. It’s human nature to hope for the best, even in the face of great adversity.
It’s no secret that the Waters of the U.S. rule, or WOTUS, has been enormously unpopular among the vast majority of landowners, farmers and ma…
While some vehemently dispute the concept of “global warming,” there seems to be more general consensus that climate change — with more freque…