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Soy’s Been Up The Pro Farmer Crop Tour for August has soybean pod counts averaging 1,362.93 in a 3’x3’ square. The number is down 1.6% from 2025 but 5.25% above the three-year average. November soybeans, also helped by Chinese flash sales, are around $12.40 per bushel, near a three-week high. Rains Slow Farmers Recent severe storms across the Midwest have left some fields with standing water and farmers with concerns about yield losses. Farmers in four of the top corn-growing states had less than a half week of suitable fieldwork for the week ending on Aug. 16. Indiana came in ...

ASK AUGUSTINE

What is the least read book in the Bible? If you think you have a high threshold of boredom begin reading I Chronicles and see how far you get. If you can make it through all the genealogies of “begots” in the first nine chapters, congratulations are in order. Starting with chapter 10, Chronicles becomes a historical account of King David and the royal dynasty he established. The narrator starts with the death of Saul, Israel’s first king, followed by all Israel’s appeal to David to become its monarch. The material covered in Chronicles is much the same as that recorded in ...

The opposition is bipartisan

Two things can be true at once. Foreign entities have seeded the opposition to data center growth in the United States. China, in particular, through its control of TikTok and other influence outlets, has relentlessly worked to stop the American AI advantage against China. Also, at this point, ...

ICE wants our emails

When a government agency comes to an internet service provider demanding information about Americans because of what they have said on social media, the provider should discard the demand, close the door or hang up the phone. The government is not entitled to rummage through the political ...

Judy and Bob White’s Backyard Garden of Eden

Judy and Bob White's friends and neighbors call White's backyard King's Palace. But to Judy and Bob it's a normal way of life. You might say they both have green thumbs, or green arms. They plant it, it grows. Stepping into their backyard on a hot, humid Iowa day is like stepping into a rain forest. You expect to see Toucan Sam or a spider monkey hanging by its tail. The Whites both work second-shift jobs, so it gives them time in the morning when it's cool to putter around in their garden. The first thing that caught my attention when Ginnie and I visited was not the flora, but a ...

Socialism doesn’t work

Two hundred and fifty years ago, America was founded on the revolutionary idea that individuals are endowed with inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Americans are called to uphold this sacred inheritance to ensure our founding principles are carried from one ...