Free Republic

Police, who held a line at the very gate of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday were pelted with potatoes by angry farmers worried a new free trade deal will see their livelihoods and industry destroyed. A government-authorized protest for 50 tractors in Brussels turned into a demonstration with “around 1,000” tractors present and over 7,000 farmers on Thursday. While the protest largely passed off without incident, there were clashes at the European Parliament building, where farmers threw potatoes and eggs and received tear gas and water cannon in return. […] The farmers are protesting the forthcoming EU-Mercosur...

Mercosur and the Green Deal have become the symbols of fierce citizen discontent. A placard on a tractor that reads “Without agriculture you die” seen during a farmers’ protest in Brussels, Belgium on December 18, 2025 - Javier Villamor / europeanconservative.com. Brussels woke up once again this Thursday to the roar of agricultural engines. Coinciding with the opening of the final European Council meeting of the year, thousands of farmers and livestock breeders returned to the EU capital to denounce what they see as the European Union’s systematic neglect of the primary sector—now further exacerbated by political pressure to finalise...

Screenshot/Rumble/KMOV A Missouri woman on Thursday receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds complained about only being able to buy “real food” with the program, according to St. Louis TV station KMOV. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced Wednesday the approval of a waiver request from Missouri and five other states to restrict the purchase of candy, sugar-sweetened drinks and other items after Oct. 1, 2026. Hannah Moore complained to KMOV reporter John Kipper in a story that the restrictions were “not even cool.” “What is the point of food stamps if it’s just for ‘real food?’” Moore asked. WATCH:...

The Trump administration announced $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers in the wake of this year's tariff hikes on Monday, primarily targeting farmers who grow crops such as soybeans and corn. The move was outlined during a White House roundtable event, featuring farmers affected as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Trump touted the program in relation to the revenue the government is taking in as a result of his sweeping tariff program and also referenced his popularity among farmers. "What we're doing is we're taking a relatively small portion of that, and we're...

President Donald Trump is poised to roll out a $12 billion farm aid package to support farmers, according to the White House. The aid package will provide up to $11 billion toward the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new Farmer Bridge Assistance Program, which is designed to provide single payments to row crop farmers, while the remaining $1 billion will go to farmers whose crops do not qualify for the program. Further details will be hashed out as the USDA continues to evaluate market conditions, according to the White House. The president is expected to unveil the new aid package...

"Hansen-Mueller Co., a major Nebraska grain dealer operating nine elevators and four port terminals across the Midwest, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 17, 2025, leaving farmers, cooperatives, and agribusinesses across 34 states facing unpaid claims totaling millions of dollars. CEO Josh Hansen stated the court-supervised process would facilitate "an orderly sale of our assets for the benefit of our creditors, employees, and all stakeholders." The filing exposed vulnerabilities in rural supply chains and raised urgent questions about recovery prospects for thousands of Creditors." (Full story at link)

An illegal immigrant from Mexico who previously served nearly two decades in federal prison, was indicted Tuesday after allegedly conspiring to move tens of millions of dollars in methamphetamine in the Atlanta area, leading authorities to seize nearly 1,600 pounds of the stimulant drug hidden in blackberry shipments. Gerardo Solorio-Alvarado, 44, of Mexico, was charged with conspiracy and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. He previously served 17 years in prison after being convicted of felony possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a gun in a drug trafficking crime.

Here’s the bottom line: America’s farmers need help — now. In my home state of Arkansas, for instance, our farmers are set to lose hundreds of dollars per acre on their soybean, corn, cotton and long-grain rice crops this year alone. The situation has gotten so bad that Arkansas cash crop receipts are now projected to fall by $617 million in 2025. Adding to these challenges...the contrast between the steep cost of inputs (such as seed, fertilizer and diesel) and the commodity prices that farmers receive for their crops is at its highest level in 25 years. Put differently, input...

Denmark’s farmers have recently been reporting that their cows are collapsing and suffering illness after eating feed containing a methane-reducing additive called Bovaer. Use of this feed is now legally required for many farms in Denmark as part of its national climate policy. Some farmers claim their cattle experienced severe symptoms after eating the additive-infused feed, including collapse, lethargy, reduced feed intake, fever, diarrhea, miscarriages, and significant drops in milk production. Based on these complaints, another Scandinavian country poised to implement the same policy is halting the move. In Norway, the government had mandated the use of Bovaer as an...

For all the talk about artificial intelligence and quantum supremacy, the fate of civilizations still depends on breakfast. ChatGPT can’t grow corn. Empires rise on stomachs as much as on silicon. And America’s food system – long dismissed as safe and self-sufficient – has quietly become a front line in the US-China rivalry. We act as if lunch is inevitable, but Beijing knows that food is power. A new report from the America First Policy Institute should wake us up. Washington long treated agriculture as a post-political space where globalization could do no harm, and was therefore happy to let...

Lentil plant grown at Fuerteventura. Credit: Fayna Brenes =============================================================== Ancient lentils preserved in volcanic silos link modern Canarian crops to 2,000-year-old North African origins. Lentils cultivated in the Canary Islands today have roots that extend nearly 2,000 years into the past. This finding comes from the first-ever genetic study of archaeological lentils, conducted by researchers at Linköping University and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain. Because these lentils have been adapted for centuries to thrive in hot and arid environments, they may offer valuable genetic traits for future crop breeding in response to ongoing climate change....

A southern city, Charlotte N.C., is emerging as a human trafficking hotspot due to its convergence of highways, demand for cheap agricultural labor and gang activity. Data found 106 minors were trafficked in Charlotte last year, about half of whom were aged 15 or younger. This was nearly double the 45 to 60 children identified annually between 2018 and 2022, figures from the city's Metro Human Trafficking Task Force showed. Statewide, the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NCTH) recorded 301 human‑trafficking cases in North Carolina in 2024, involving 580 victims. The vast majority of last year’s cases were sex trafficking, but...

How can they get you to stop eating meat? Well they will kill the cows and that's exactly what they're doing. This is a really disturbing story... pay attention to how they're doing this. You can’t make this up. Denmark just made it illegal to raise cattle without giving them drugs. Farmers are being forced—by law—to feed their cows a government-approved chemical that supposedly stops them from farting too much. To stop producing methane. I had a fascinating conversation with Kevin DeMeritt, Founder of Lear Capital, about gold, silver, and what investors should be paying attention to right now. If...

A holding pen that just one day earlier housed 300 ostriches now contains their tarp-covered bodies after officials carried out a slaughter late Thursday night.The pen sits on the grounds of Universal Ostrich Farms in British Columbia, Canada, which has been locked in a legal battle with federal officials over a government‑ordered cull. Witnesses said trucks and SUVs belonging to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) arrived at the farm, and several men were seen carrying equipment into the enclosures. Around 6pm local time, the sound of repeated gunfire echoed across the property as supporters gathered outside, praying and shouting...

California voters are in the final days of a special election that could help determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. The ballot measure, known as Proposition 50, would allow state lawmakers to temporarily redraw California’s congressional map — a move Democrats say could help them pick up additional seats in Congress. Jenny Holtermann, a fourth-generation farmer in California's Central Valley, said that under the proposed map, she would remain in a Republican district, but worries about the changes could affect her community. "It really is, it’s sad that they are really carving out those Republican areas...

The fight over the Colorado River’s dwindling resources is made for MAGA — but so far the Trump administration has been playing it straight. President Donald Trump loves a good water war — and the biggest one yet is about to land in his lap. A quarter century of climate change and drought has driven water levels along the Colorado River and its two main reservoirs to historic lows, threatening supplies that support 40 million people and economies from Phoenix to Denver to Los Angeles. The seven states that share the West’s most important river are locked in battle over...

Republican senators on Tuesday railed against the administration’s plans to import more beef during a closed-door meeting with Vice President JD Vance.p> Officials said last week they would allow Argentina to ship four times as much beef to the US as it previously did at a lower tariff rate. Ranchers immediately panned the move, as did the lawmakers who represent them: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., warned “this isn’t the way to do it.”Vance sought to “explain what the administration is thinking” in Tuesday’s meeting, one Republican senator in attendance told Semafor.“There were a number that really expressed …...

R.C. and Annia Carter survey their ranch near Ten Sleep, Wyo., on Oct. 14, 2025. The Carters have practiced regenerative or holistic agricultural practices to cultivate their pastureland. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times ================================================================ TEN SLEEP, Wyo.—The alfalfa weevil, scourge of Western ranchers, appears when the frost melts, skeletonizing leaves and profits. There are ways to limit its damage—early harvest, livestock grazing, and intercropping alfalfa with grass—but most growers opt for insecticides. R.C. Carter, a third-generation rancher in Northern Wyoming, recalled a realization he had while using a 1.5-gallon container of concentrated pesticide to spray a 60-acre alfalfa pasture. “I was...

In an industry battered by debt and sagging prices, this year’s bounty is more bad news.FREDERICKSBURG, Iowa - Kyle Wendland stepped away from his engineering degree two decades ago to follow his father – not just into farming corn, but into a world of debt, grit, and stubborn faith he could wrest a living from Iowa’s soil. He calls his place Comeback Farms, after his family nearly lost the land in the 1980s farm crisis.This summer, with bills mounting and a farm economy in recession, he led a team through the sweltering Midwest, scouting fields and sizing up what President...

Rose hips or “haws” are the most commonly consumed part of a plant that is best known for its aesthetic appeal. Today, you are more likely to find roses in a vase at the center of a table than on your dinner plate. There are however, a number of culinary and medicinal uses for rose hips.