Rona Johnson

Grand Forks

Journalist working at the Grand Forks Herald as special publications manager. Special publications include Agweek and Prairie Business magazines.

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Articles

Farmers not impressed with MAHA report

1 week ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

I have to agree with Zippy Duvall’s comments after the release of the Make America Healthy Again report that addressed concerns with some of of the inputs farmers use to grow crops.
Nebraska latest to ban fake meat

2 weeks ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

Nebraska recently became the sixth state to ban fake meat and because of the nation’s new-found interest in highly processed food this seems to be a good step in the right direction. Neb. Gov. Jim Pillen, a hog farmer, on Tuesday signed LB246 into law, banning the production, sale, promotion and distribution of cultivated meat in Nebraska.
Time to rethink welfare

3 weeks ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

In case you haven’t heard there has been a debate on Capitol Hill over the farm bill and the GOP proposal to cut billions of dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. In fact, the House Ag Committee passed a reconciliation bill on Wednesday that would cut SNAP by $290 billion over 10 years. Of course the bill still has many hurdles to clear before it is passed into law.
Waste, fraud and abuse

4 weeks ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

Fighting government waste, fraud and abuse has been a mantra for many candidates — Democrat and Republican — running for office. In fact, former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had some success in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. But now that it has become a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s administration, his detractors are complaining that proposed cuts are draconian and disrupting government agencies.
Maude case should frighten all of us

1 month ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

I was relieved when the news broke on April 28 that the U.S. government had dropped criminal charges against Charles and Heather Maude of Caputa, S.D.When the charges were first announced many of us were scratching our heads wondering what the heck was going on. The government’s case was that the Maudes had stolen federal land. But the land had been in the hands of the Maude family since the early 1900s with no government complaints during that time. That is until March 2024.
California ranchers have had it with wolves

1 month ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

If the saying misery loves company is true, Colorado ranchers should be in contact with ranchers in California who have had enough of wolf depredations. A recent article in the Los Angeles Times says that wolf depredations have gotten so bad that officials in Modoc and Sierra counties have declared emergencies and leaders in Siskiyou and Lassen counties are asking the state to do something to help the ranchers.
My brush with fame

1 month ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

I know this has nothing to do with agriculture, but how about Alexander Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record to become the greatest goal scorer in National Hockey League history. I am writing about this because I met Ovechkin. He played for the Russian team at the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships that were held Dec. 25, 2004 to Jan. 4, 2005, at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., and Ralph Engelstad Arena (referred to often as the Little Ralph) in Thief River Falls, Minn.
Whole vs. low fat milk

2 months ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

I’m not a nutritionist but I am stumped by this argument about whether schools should allow whole milk to be served to students. I get that there is an obesity problem in the U.S., but there are also skinny kids that might benefit from whole milk. I may not look like it now, but I was one of those scrawny kids in grade and middle school who had to endure the nickname of daddy long legs because my legs were so skinny — or so I thought.
California dairy, cattle ranchers forced to leave after environmentalists file lawsuit

2 months ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

Environmentalists are licking their lips now that they are driving dairies and cattle ranches out of Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, California. The National Park Service and environmental groups claim the cattle, which have been there for more than 150 years are polluting watersheds and threatening endangered species. I’m thinking this place should be uninhabitable after 150 years of this so-called pollution. But that’s not the case.
Happy belated National Ag Day

2 months ago | thefencepost.com | Rona Johnson

March 18 was National Agriculture Day, and I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the people who work every day to provide the world with food, fiber and fuel — and among many other things my job. I am in awe of people who survive without a steady paycheck, have no set hours, don’t set their own prices for the products they grow or raise, and are constantly at the mercy of adverse weather conditions.