Editors like to see stories of success and ushering in a new year is the right time to be optimistic and have high hopes.
The next year, if the past 12 months were any indication, will continue to provide some of the most interesting times for those involved in production agriculture and for those who cover it. Here are numerous positive headlines that may resonate with you.
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Grain market rally adds 30% to cash prices;
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Cattle, pork prices continue upward trend;
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Presidential candidates talk ag in depth instead of sound bites;
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Congress returning to bipartisan roots;
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USMCA delivers what it promises;
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Trade war with China ends as ag poised to benefit;
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Mother Nature offers timely moisture to Plains;
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Producer, lender, bottom lines strengthened;
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Plans for new beef packing plant announced;
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Producers turn out in droves for informational meetings;
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Production costs take a dip and ease belt tightening;
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Fed decides not to increase interest rates;
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Farm bankruptcies disappear as a result of higher incomes;
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Return to the farm finds more families answering the call;
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Farm accidents, fatalities hit record low; and
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Real meat is the best choice by a landslide, consumers say.
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By no means is the most comprehensive list of headlines as each farmer and rancher can tailor it to his own individual situation. In any case, as you contemplate your own headlines hopefully it will shed a positive light on what you do.
As I look at the above headlines I know that there are possibilities some of these can come true. After all, the most recent farm bill got done a year ago in a bipartisan way but not without a lengthy fight because of political posturing. In some ways it was fitting because it meant some lawmakers wanted to write his or her own script rather than work in concert with the majority.
The social media era tends to only pay lip service to the masses and is more eager to stir up than settle down. My assumption is it will continue to be a dividing line that can both help or hurt an industry we all love.
Perhaps in many ways it is more wishful thinking than the reality it will produce. But a headline writer can always dream.
A new year means an opportunity to write resolutions and perhaps 2020 will bring a greater kindred spirit of being kind to others and by the middle of January that has gone the wayside of commitments to write thank you notes on a regular basis.
Yet the newness and fullness of a full year, which will include an extra day on Feb. 29 because 2020 is a leap year, does offer a year to write a positive script with a headline to boot.
Dave Bergmeier can be reached at 620-227-1822 or [email protected].
