By Ken RootLast week, Prestage Farms, Inc. was granted approval to develop a two hundred-forty-million-dollar facility in rural Wright County by the board of supervisors. Iowa hog farms have twenty million animals in farrowing and finishing operations so there is no...
by Ken RootI?ve lived in many physical locations in my life and now, in my seventh decade on this earth, I wonder how much of who we are is based on our relationship with place. I think of place as the physical, emotional and spiritual coordinates that define our...
by Ken RootThe first time I saw my mother cry, I was so young that only snippets remain in my brain. She was standing by the window with a dish towel in her hands and looking out into the yard. ?They are selling the horses,? she said as I climbed onto a chair and...
Ken Root, Agricultural JournalistThe irony of last week?s vote by the United Kingdom, to leave the European Union, is strong and sweet for many Americans. The British Empire that founded our colonies and tried to hold them in servitude, causing revolution, has now...
by Ken Root Every spring Mother Nature bursts forth with new life. It is my favorite season as winter cold yields to a stronger sun and vibrant green replaces dingy brown. The animal kingdom awakens too and the prime instinct of every species is to reproduce....
by Ken RootA job is a sacred thing to me. I grew up in a poor but proud rural household with parents who believed your character and honor were wrapped up in the job you did for yourself or others. Be it farm work or full time employment, the goal was to work...
by Ken RootLast week the most comprehensive report, to date, was released on genetically modified crops from the perspective of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The report is over four hundred pages in length from a team of twenty...
by Ken RootLast weekend, I went home to Luther, Oklahoma, to attend an all school reunion on the forty-ninth anniversary of my graduation in 1967. I spent the first eighteen years of my life on the family farm a couple of miles outside this little town. The community...
by Ken RootThe north-central Iowa town of Mason City sits far enough away from Des Moines and Minneapolis to create its own gravity. It is the hub for business and culture in the region and has a long history of both. Music Man Square is a tribute to the work of...
by Ken RootDo you remember ?Blue Dog Democrats?? At one time there were about sixty conservatives from that party who proudly belonged to a loosely formed caucus by that name. Now, there is just one: Colin Peterson, from Minnesota. He isn?t anyone?s favorite person as...
