By Mike Barnett

Family farm. Two words Americans love. With good reason.

Family means many things. Loving. Caring. Nurturing.

All apply to the family farmers I know. Too bad there are many misconceptions about what family farms are and aren’t.

Could be many of us are far removed from farm life. Some think of family farms as idyllic—a small place where the sun always shines, with chickens and cows, a patch of corn and a vegetable garden.

By Gene Hall

Safety—for farmers and their city neighbors—is our top concern as spring planting gets underway.

When it stops raining in Texas—and we all know it will—the huge planting machines of agriculture will start rolling. Our ever-expanding urban lifestyle gobbles up countryside, reaching into areas that were once very rural. Now, these roads are heavily traveled. That means we’ll see tractors and planters on the highways with us.

By Nathan Smith

A group of Texans visited our nation’s capital last week. We walked snow-covered streets and through the halls of the U.S. House of Representatives’ offices. We met with congressmen and staffers. We discussed agricultural policy.

Staring out my D.C. hotel window at the inches of snow, I thought of farmers and ranchers back home.

They never hesitate to brave the elements for their crops and livestock. They are experts on animal health and crop science. They are committed to making the best and safest product possible. And they do it year after year. Despite volatile markets and weather that changes as often as farm policy.

By Russell Boening

Texas Farm Bureau President

It is my great honor to be selected president of Texas Farm Bureau by the voting delegates at our Corpus Christi convention. As that all sinks in, I’m eager to get started. We have a big job ahead, and there are many challenges.

To start with, it’s a legislative year. As a farmer, I know about taking care of the land and preparing the ground for a new crop. In only a few days, our elected representatives will return to Austin. That in itself is challenging, and we have to be ready. We will study the issues and develop relationships with state officials. Many of them have never been part of state government before. Others are now in a completely different role.

By Mike Barnett

Time. Where did it go? Seems like yesterday I made my fearless ag predictions for 2014. I wasn’t exactly on target on all of them. But that doesn’t deter me from trying again this year.

Here’s what’s going to happen in 2015. At least in my warped view of the world…

January. “Howdy y’all” becomes the official greeting in Washington, D.C. as members of the Texas delegation assume leadership of six of the 21 House committees, including the House Agriculture Committee.