"Mr. Johanns governs a state that prohibits packers from owning livestock - which would be a good idea nationally - and has one of the strongest laws against corporate farming in the country."
More regulation is always a good idea in the opinion of the NYT.
I would have thought the NYT would have been more open minded about letting "packers" own livestock. I read somewhere that 3/4ths of the the employees at the NYT who determine what gets on the front page, are packers.