The Wichita Eagle  had a fascinating and well-reported story from central Kansas Sunday on the topic of solar panels being installed near Cheyenne Bottoms (CB), an area which, from an environmental perspective, is highly sensitive. CB is a swampy area on the "Central States Flyway" -- which is probably the most important bird migration path in North America.  There is a proposal to put a large solar array very close to the southeast edge of CB. This raises a large number of environmental questions. For example, there are birds which cannot take off unless they are in water? Will they be deceived by the panels, which may appear to be water, land, and die?  That said, there is an aspect of the story that was omitted that I believe is extremely important: Why are we taking more prime agricultural land out of production for solar panels?  Yes, the owners have property rights. Yes, solar panels pay more than food farming. But, at what cost? The contract from the solar c...

The proposal to take over our food supply isn't even giving over well with the liberal media, including the leftist media like the Washington Post  (lower right): One of Milton Friedman's many brilliant observations applies..... I guarantee this will result if Tim and Kamala get control of the grocery supply chain . Of course, they -- and Congress -- will exempt themselves .  I'll have more on this topic as election season continues. As Jordan puts it...

Harvesting wheat in Kansas I don't know whether the correct description of the behavior the New York Times  (NYT) describes below is pitiful or just distressing: In a small room in Lower Manhattan, a group of eight New Yorkers sat in a circle sharing kombucha and their climate fears against the background of pattering rain and wailing sirens. In Champaign, Ill., a psychotherapist facilitating a meeting for other therapists held up a branch of goldenrod, asking the half-dozen participants online to consider their connection to nature. And in Kansas City, Mo., a nonprofit that runs a weekly discussion on Zoom began its session with a spiritual reading and a guided meditation before breaking into groups to discuss topics like the ethics of childbearing amid a fast-rising global population and concerns of resource scarcity. All were examples of a new grass-roots movement called climate cafes. These in-person and online groups are places for people to discuss their grief, fea...

Cows grazing in the Kansas Flint Hills, the largest cattle grazing area in the world. Photo from my collection at Adobe Stock Photography . But, what might surprise you is that it isn't in Wichita (although we have great steakhouses) or even Kansas City. According to one travel site, it is in Bird City -- a tiny town of ~500 in the far northwest part of the state. Beccy Tanner, an expert in Kansas history, has the story .  If you are traveling on I-70, head one county to the north. In addition to some interesting topography, you'll enjoy a great meal. 

Did you know that, for the first time since the Republic was declared in 1776, the U.S. was a net importer  of food in 2022? And, it looks like that will be true indefinitely into the future. This latest news, from last week (above), is more discouragement.  We have too many in Washington and New York that believe "food comes from the grocery store"! Since COVID, a number of companies have sought to bring their manufacturing back from China and have found the USA doesn't have the expertise anymore. Believe me, that can happen in ag -- especially since we are -- stupidly -- converting some of our best farmland from crops to solar energy farms.  Producing inadequate food is, in my opinion, a major national security issue and should be treated as such. 

While Al Gore and John Kerry fly around on private jets, increasingly the global warming crowd wants you and I to eat crickets. Really. More here . 

MMMmmmmm, cake. 

I guess we plebes are eating too well. I'll give up my meat when Al Gore and "climate envoy" John Kerry give up their private jets and start taking the bus.

Yes, you read that correctly: The USA will important more ag products than it exports.  This has never before occurred. Why? The first reason is -- you guessed it -- laws and regulations related to global warming. The second is the way farm labor is now handled in some states. The full story is here and I urge  you to read it. Do we really want to be dependent on China and other nations for our food?

We've been warning you for several months. Update 5:5p Sunday As I'm sure you realize: less fertilizer = less food.

This from a new business in Wichita. So, next time we are under a tornado watch and you are hungry.....

Our Sunday Fun feature today is nutrition advice. As you can see from the above headline : eating broccoli (along with brussels sprouts, cauliflower, radishes, beets, etc.) is just too dangerous to your heath. 

One of my favorite restaurants in the world is Jack Stack Bar-B-Que in Kansas City. I've been eating there since my father used to purchase their "49er" sandwich (called the Jack Stack Sandwich before it was discontinued) in 1957 when it was on Troost. It was brisket, ham, lettuce and their sauce on a delicious roll. During the last few months when I have ordered it, I was told it was discontinued. Now, I've learned the restaurant no longer serves ham -- at all.  We came back from KC today and it was the first time I can remember not visiting. Without ham, I'm not as interested.  On the way back from KC, I went into Arby's, ordered their ham sandwich, and was told they no longer serve ham (I guess they no longer have "the meats").  So, I did a little internet research and found the following no longer serve ham: Panera . Subway (UK). Hog Wild Bar-B-Que (Wichita, my home) What's going on? What happened to ham? Any one know what is behind this? P...

Texas: Valentine's Week 2021 This is an report I believe is important and, for which, I have done two weeks of research. Allow me to state up front: I hope I am too cynical and wrong in my predictions. But, if I am correct about the weather this winter,  conditions could get very bad. In this piece, I will explain the reasons for my concern and what we should do to prepare.  The Convergence of Problems in America To set the stage, please recall the extreme cold during Valentine's Week 2021. There were extreme issues in Texas with lack of electricity and natural gas, unheated homes, hospitals and businesses; more than seven hundred  deaths, and economic losses north of $100 billion . You may have forgotten that many areas outside of Texas had blackouts due to an insufficient supply of electrify.  Fast forward to today: In Wichita, where we live, we are starting to see empty shelves in grocery, hardware and big box stores. Restaurants are cutting hours and menu items. ...

Happy Independence Day !!!

The linked story is here .

First, thank you so much to all of the new readers that joined us for the coverage of the weekend storms. Hope you've enjoyed yourself and will stick around. For those who are new, you might not be award that I have been making several points about the coronavirus (CV) lockdowns. Lockdowns were smart when the ' experts ' thought there was the potential for two million deaths. With the above, "flattening the curve" (delaying the deluge of patients until hospitals and public health officials could prepare) was necessary and, to accomplish that, the lockdowns were necessary. Remember: the purpose of the lockdowns was to delay the cases, not to significantly lower them. That could only be done with a vaccine which is more than a year away. The models upon which the lockdowns were based were of terrible quality. Even the more recent versions of the models overestimated the need for hospital beds by a factor of four (top). Now that we know 1) the vir...