News and analyses related to agricultural policy relevant to Montana and the northern Great Plains.
Browsing: Policy
COVID-19: Will There Be Enough Farm Workers?
COVID-19 has created many interruptions to agricultural supply chains. Panic buying has created shortages of…
Understanding the Paycheck Protection Program for Small Businesses
Last week I wrote some thoughts about how the federal government should address the economic…
Preventing an Economic Plague
The Coronavirus is bringing economic calamity to every corner of the country. Unemployment claims in…
The Role of Reclamation in Managing Coal’s Decline
The Trump administration has made every effort to arrest the decline of coal in the…
2020 Presidential Candidates: Stances on U.S. Agricultural Issues
I must admit: I’ve been wanting to post about this topic for a while, but…
Retaining Farm Workers: Are Non-Wage Benefits a Determining Factor?
Evidence suggests that improving labor conditions on Mexican export farms might make it more difficult…
The Future of Montana’s Energy Mix
Last August Northwestern Energy, Montana’s largest electricity supplier, released an “Electricity Supply Resource Procurement Plan,”…
The Proposed Farm Workforce Modernization Act
In a 2018 USDA ERS report, my coauthors and I identified 4 indications that the…
Cannabusiness in the Big Sky: Montana Hemp Update 2019
This spring I wrote about hemp as a relatively new, rapidly expanding crop in the…
USMCA to Increase Exports of Capital-Intensive Agricultural Products
The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) provides important opportunities for U.S. agricultural producers. Canada and Mexico…