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Agriculture This Week: Farming always evolving

When you have grown up on a farm in the 1960s and ‘70s it is almost beyond belief the changes in farming we see today. 

It was a mixed farm for me, and that meant pigs and grain. 

In my youth I hauled a lot of ground grain to feed the pigs using cleaned five-gallon pails that originally were filled with some weed spray, or another. 

Looking back over some 40-years it seems like it was such a crazy thing, but repurposing the pails was pretty standard. I’m pretty sure potatoes came from the garden to the cellar bin in similar pails. 

Of course I clearly recall Dad taking plugged nozzles off the sprayer, his gloves getting soaked in the process, and then simply blowing out the nozzle with his breath. 

Knowing what we do now it’s a wonder what health problems were caused in a time we didn’t know better, or were reluctant to change. Dad lived to a considerable age, his heart giving out one day, but one wonders. 


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Pork Industry Seeks Clarity on Trade Deals, Labor Policy and Processed Food Definition

Video: Pork Industry Seeks Clarity on Trade Deals, Labor Policy and Processed Food Definition

When Duane Stateler joined the National Pork Producers Council board, he expected his biggest challenge would be pushing back against California’s Proposition 12 while working to expand markets. Instead, he’s now navigating trade disputes and a new MAHA report that puts sausage in the crosshairs as a processed food. Labor shortages and the next farm bill are also on the agenda — all while he continues running his Macomb, Ohio farm and serving as board president.