12/21/18

My dear Friend and President, DJT,

It looks like you had fun when signing the farm bill yesterday. I'm glad Debbie Stabenow showed up even though she's mad at you about your 'regulation (that) “blatantly ignores” the farm bill that Congress passed.' Too bad she and Cindy Hyde-Smith were the only women that you mentioned in your introductions. I didn't see any POCs there either. You should have invited CHANOWK YISRAEL,Sacramento Urban Farmerwho is poised to benefit from the low-interest farm loans that he can get, thanks to the new bill. I hope Debbie appreciated your compliment that "she's tough, smart and does a great job."

The farm bill reminded me of my late father, commodity trader and grandson of Rebecca Bishop Ambrose, IL farmer who ran the farm after her husband died. All the other farmers in the neighborhood followed her lead. My dad hated farm price supports. He believed that a free market was the best way to allocate resources. He thought that milk supports were the worst. He tried to explain to me how they worked but I never paid enough attention. Nowadays dairy farmers can't make a profit and according to my dad's logic they should sell their cows and farm something else. Americans are drinking less milk. In the 70s we consumed about 30 gallons a year and now we're down to 18. All kinds of alternatives have turned up that are much healthier, and don't involve stealing a baby from its mother when it's just a couple of days old. Among the intriguing alternatives are pea and hemp milk. Both of those grains could be grown in WI so the farmers could keep their land. I encourage you to help farmers and all Americans understand that we should be helping farmers keep up with the times so they can produce commodities that are healthy, sustainable and humane.

I wish I had more space to tell you about the weird astronomical event I saw on Wed. night. I think it was another omen.

Have you encountered any omens?