Pivotal Issues Blog

By: Heather Lifsey When I was in college at Virginia Tech, my friends and I used to camp out for football tickets. These days, my friends are camping out to get into the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). I recently talked with a farmer who needed to get North Carolina driver’s licenses for her H-2A […]

By: Cassidy Walter Not all is sunny in the countryside when it comes to solar energy and agriculture. While solar energy can provide farmers with a new revenue stream, some are concerned about taking productive ground out of commission. “If it’s marginal ground, fine; it doesn’t produce very good,” said Jon Freeman, a fourth-generation farmer […]

By: Jolene Brown The Problem We’re getting married! Between all the planning and doing, money and future finances have not been a priority conversation. However, several months ago, a friend of ours was killed in a car accident. As we support his wife and two young children, we see a mighty struggle, not only with […]

There are many reasons for a backfiring engine. Troubleshoot them one-by-one. By Successful Farming Staff A backfiring lawn mower can not only be annoying — it can be dangerous. We’re answering a question from Dena in Mississippi. She said, “I have a 2002 John Deere riding lawn mower, and always try to take good care […]

By Jerry Nelson The writer Arthur Brooks recently penned a column about a dinner party he and his wife attended with several other long-married couples. After some requisite social niceties, the hostess posed a question that sparked an evening of fascinating discussion: Have you ever had a major crisis in your marriage? Were you to […]

Here’s how to find the right farm dog for your property. By Karen Weir-Jimerson Tracy Kobberdahl often rises before sunrise to do chores on her South Dakota farm. As she marches from her warm house to her cold barn, her dog, Tom, is often right at her side. Among Tom’s many jobs is helping to […]

A legal case unravels a web of business deception in a close-knit Indiana farming community, exposing dozens of delinquent machinery loans worth more than $2 million. By Dan Looker The beginning of the end of Echelbarger Hay, LLC landed as a letter at Kim and Justin Hannah’s farm near Greentown, Indiana, early last September. It […]

Across the country, U.S. farmers are expected to plant 95.3 million acres of corn in 2025, said the recent Prospective Plantings report from USDA. By Natalina Sents Bausch What state does USDA expect to plant the most acres of corn this year? The agency answered that and many other questions with the release of the […]

By Lisa Foust Prater Before Dr. Peggy Whitson became America’s most experienced astronaut — accumulating 675 days in space between her three NASA long-duration space flights and the Axiom Mission 2 — she was a farm girl near the town of Beaconsfield in southwest Iowa. From an early age, Whitson saw her parents put in […]

In this Hometown Hero feature, the musical Brown family restores a 100-year-old building into a state-of-the-art theater in an Iowa community. By Laurie Bedord The message of the song “Brighten The Corner Where You Are” resonates with the Brown family. After touring the globe for more than 20 years, the musically gifted group decided it […]