Sierra Dawn McClain
Assistant Editorial Features Editor at The Wall Street Journal
Assistant editorial features editor @WSJopinion. Formerly: ag & food reporter @capitalpress, fellow @Poynter, intern @UO_Snowden. Tips? [email protected]
Articles
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1 month ago |
wsj.com | Sierra Dawn McClain
The exemption is set to decline by half if the GOP tax bill doesn’t pass. Rural families will suffer. Jolene Riessen’s children may lose the farm if Congress doesn’t extend the Trump tax cuts. Ms. Riessen, 64, is a widow. She plans to leave her Northwest Iowa farm to her two sons, who are in their 30s. Ms. Riessen estimates the value of her farmland and equipment—including four tractors, two combines and a planter—at $14 million to $19 million.
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2 months ago |
wsj.com | Sierra Dawn McClain
The U.S. manufactures 108 billion aluminum beverage cans a year, and more than half of America’s total aluminum supply is imported, mainly from Canada, says Katie Rosebrook, spokeswoman for the Aluminum Association. Steel-can makers rely even more heavily on imports. U.S. steelmakers have the capacity to produce only about 30% of the type of steel that American can makers need for food cans—tin-mill steel, a specialized steel coated with a thin layer of tin.
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Mar 14, 2025 |
wsj.com | Sierra Dawn McClain
March 14, 2025 1:17 pm ETWashingtonIf you’re looking for an example of how the federal bureaucracy proliferates, it’s hard to beat the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When it was established in 1862, it had a commissioner and nine employees. In his 1864 message to Congress, President Abraham Lincoln called the USDA “the people’s Department, in which they feel more directly concerned than any other.” Little wonder: In the 1860s, more than half of all Americans worked on farms.
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Mar 14, 2025 |
wsj.com | Sierra Dawn McClain
WashingtonIf you’re looking for an example of how the federal bureaucracy proliferates, it’s hard to beat the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When it was established in 1862, it had a commissioner and nine employees. In his 1864 , President Abraham Lincoln called the USDA “the people’s Department, in which they feel more directly concerned than any other.” Little wonder: In the 1860s, more than half of all Americans worked on farms. Congress elevated the USDA to cabinet status in 1889.
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Feb 21, 2025 |
wsj.com | Sierra Dawn McClain
A recent meme showed a young man shopping for Valentine’s Day. “Impress her with something expensive,” the text said. The man then turned around to reveal the gift: a carton of eggs. Egg prices 15% in January and were up 53% year over year, according to the latest consumer-price index. Politicians are predictably blaming each other. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Jan.
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RT @WSJopinion: The estate tax pushes those with generational knowledge, local support networks and passion for farming off the land. Lawma…
The Estate Tax Wrecks U.S. Farms by @sierradmcclain The exemption is set to decline by half if the GOP tax bill doesn’t pass. Rural families will suffer. https://t.co/o5gNYG0eYG via @WSJopinion
RT @WSJopinion: Trump’s game of red light, green light with tariffs creates uncertainty for U.S. can-making businesses and will result in h…