Sierra Dawn McClain
Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow 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
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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1 month ago |
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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2 months ago |
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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Nov 26, 2024 |
wsj.com | Sierra Dawn McClain
I live in New York City, but growing up, I was among the less than 2% of Americans who farm. As frozen turkeys pop up in grocery stores ahead of Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of what it was like to raise turkeys when I was young. I grew up on a ranch in Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley. I can see it now when I close my eyes: The stream snaking across the land. The A-frame barns. The old oaks that seemed to hold the sky in their branches.
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Oct 28, 2024 |
wsj.com | Sierra Dawn McClain
Omaha, Neb. Who says bipartisanship is dead? Democrat Ann Ashford recently endorsed Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who in 2016 beat her late husband, Brad Ashford, in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District. “The reason I’ve endorsed Don is because character is more important than party,” Ms. Ashford said in a radio interview. “I will be a proud Harris-Bacon voter.”Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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RT @TFASorg: Earlier this month, #TFAS supporters, alumni and guests gathered in sunny Naples, Florida, for the 2025 TFAS Annual Conference…
RT @WSJopinion: The U.S. Department of Agriculture reaches into every farm, national forest, rural town, grocery store and school cafeteria…
Can the “People’s Department” Be Cut to Size? @sierradmcclain interviews @BrookeLRollins The USDA started with 10 employees and now has nearly 100,000. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins aims to get back to basics. https://t.co/EyUErrHcwP via @WSJopinion