Dear John,

While most farm owners aspire to pass their businesses on to future generations, it’s becoming increasingly rare to do so. The Hauser family from Hauser's Superior View Farm is a multi-generational farm family demonstrating just how it can be done.

This month we're recommending "Bet the Farm" by Beth Hoffman. This book provides a clear-eyed analyses of everything from the history of commodities, factory farming and Black landloss, to the intricacies of farm finance, why it’s so hard for farmers to make a fair living, and why most farm families have at least one off-farm job.

This book also shares the personal story of Beth's own transition into agriculture as she and her husband become the fifth generation of farmers on family land in southeast Iowa.

We joined with 161 organizations to criticize a move by Congress to rescind, or revoke, between $1.6 and $1.65 billion of funding that was allocated to the U.S. Department of Agriculture via previously passed legislation.

"The proposed rescission will leave USDA without resources to respond to supply chain disruptions exacerbated by the instability in Europe,” states the letter, which was sent to President Biden and members of Congress. “Eliminating these programs will endanger not only [farmers’ and food system workers’] well-being but also the resilience of our food and farm system.”