It is exciting to see our planting season go smoothly so far. Our corn and soybeans are three-fourths planted and starting to come up. That is something that we can control, but the federal government is a different story. President Biden has announced that he wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by the year 2030. And Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says, “biofuels are a key piece of the plan.” Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Joe Biden will face a long and difficult list of challenges. Topping the list will be the Coronavirus and a $1.9 trillion stimulus to lift our economy. That huge spending bill has not passed the Congress yet. Probably will be changed some.

I am so tired of these “peaceful” rallies that end up destroying property, looting, and burning flags and signs.  We had a dozen of our large cities face this last summer and fall, but by far the worst is the assault on our own Capitol last week.  Both parties need to stand up and say “enough is enough”.  This is not the USA that I know.  Just blaming President Trump will not solve the problem.

When you are farming, you are faced with a lot of unknowns - What will the weather be like? Will these low prices ever recover?

Being in lock down like most of our citizens and trying to celebrate Mother’s Day made me think. My mother was so dedicated to my 2 sisters, me and of course my dad. Mom & Dad were married in 1934 and in 1935 I was born. We were living in a small house with no running water, no bathroom and no electricity but we had an outhouse.

The cost of unemployment and economic hardship from the global coronavirus pandemic is no small change. We have not had to face anything like this since World War II.

Monte James interviews MacKenzie Johnston about life on the ranch, what keeps her busy and her push to keep MCOOL while taking a little heat.

It seems like every day another major meat processing plant is closed. We have farms with hundreds or thousands of pigs ready for market but they can’t find any plants that will take their pigs.

Nebraska Rancher and NFR Bronc Rider Steven Dent rides rough on ranching and rodeo in today's Hot Barn Report!

Monte James Interviews MacKenzie Johnston about whats new in her life on the Nebraska ranch, and about her new job in the wake of being recently fired for standing up for the independent producer and her intent to continue.