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Haymow hoop dreams

Columnists

March Madness has begun and I can truly say this is my favorite time of the entire year. I grew up with a love of basketball that began in the early 1970’s on our small hobby farm located 30 minutes south of the state capital in Madison. Our large gambrel style barn was a working barn that housed sheep, black angus cattle, chickens, a couple of mutts, several cats, and dozens of bats that would emerge from the rafters at dusk. It also had mice, one of which ran up my pants leg when I was throwing bales of hay down the chute. The barn was large and had a cavernous haymow. The haymow ...

Jeremiah’s Dilemma

Your View

Jeremiah was standing in a line of conquered Israelites, heading for Babylon! For a few hundred years, God had given Israel time to repent and change. They had the opportunity to show God they could be His people. But much like today, folks did not believe God would do what He proclaimed; sending a warring nation to destroy Israel. But Babylon came, killed a million folks and took about 100,000 prisoners. Jeremiah was one of the educated kids who had many skills. In disgrace, they were marched to Babylon naked and shackled together. God had begun what he promised. Sin caused God’s ...

Healthcare careers in months, not years

Columnists

Looking to start a rewarding career in healthcare or build on your current experience? Iowa Valley’s short-term health training programs make it possible to gain hands-on skills and job-ready experience in just weeks or months — not years. With a high demand for healthcare workers, increased wages, and sign-on bonuses offered across Iowa, there’s never been a better time to start a healthcare career. Hospitals, long-term care facilities, and emergency services are all seeking skilled professionals — from CNAs and Medication Aides to EMTs, Phlebotomists, and Pharmacy ...

Ambassador Terry Branstad: I’m endorsing Randy Feenstra for Governor

Columnists

I still remember the town hall meeting. During one of my annual 99-county tours, in which I was mostly asked questions, I decided to close the meeting by asking the Iowans in the room what their hopes were for Iowa. Several people spoke up, offering sound policy ideas. But a man who remained quiet most of the morning, steadily sipping his coffee and holding it in his hands, perhaps to fend off the chill in the air that winter morning, finally spoke up. His answer was simple, yet profound: “I want to leave my farm better than I found it.” This simple, noble goal perfectly ...

2026 National Ag Day

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Dear Editor, Please join our Mid-Iowa Youth Beef Team to observe National Ag Day on March 24, 2026, with the theme of “Together We Grow” as we celebrate 250 years of agriculture progress. Agriculture producers have made great progress in their production since the 1960’s. Today, cattlemen and women are producing 75% more beef per animal with 43% less environmental emissions on ground that cannot be used for any other crop production and preventing wildfires through controlling the growth by grazing that ground. Cattle producers have contributed to each American farmer today ...

Rural America needs to band together against corporate greed

Columnists

Last year, John Deere announced plans to go 100 percent robotic by 2030. That’s right: in just four more years, the world’s largest tractor manufacturer plans to replace every corn and soybean farmer with robots. Farmers won’t own the machines, of course. Right now they can’t even repair a machine because the software is only licensed to them. (And with consolidation, they don’t own their choice of seed, fertilizer, pesticide, or herbicide. And they don’t have much choice where to sell what they grow, either.) More time off from driving the tractor sounds pretty good ...