NEWS AND OPINION:
Those proverbial amber waves of grain from sea to shining sea have drawn some intense attention. Here’s some news about the nation’s often heroic farmers — and a new effort to applaud their efforts and ensure that consumers have access to what they produce.
American Farmland Trust — a national nonprofit that helps to keep American farmers on their land — has launched a new “U.S. Farmed” certification and packaging seal for products that derive at least 95% of their agricultural ingredients from farms in the U.S.
The certification idea has a powerful ally, meanwhile. Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s leading brewer, announced Tuesday that it is the first in line to adopt the U.S. Farmed certification and seal for several of its industry-leading beer brands.
The company’s motto for the new campaign is “Choose Beer Grown Here.”
“American farmers are the backbone of this country, and Anheuser-Busch has been deeply connected to the U.S. agricultural community and committed to sourcing high-quality ingredients from U.S. farmers for more than 165 years – that’s who we are,” said Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“We source nearly all the ingredients in our iconic American beers from hard-working U.S. farmers – many of whom we have worked with for generations. The U.S. Farmed certification takes our commitment to the next level, and we are proud to lead the industry in rallying behind American farmers to ensure the future of U.S. agriculture, which is crucial to our country’s economy” Mr. Whitworth said.
“Aimed at transforming the way consumers identify and shop for domestically sourced products, the seal will first appear on Anheuser-Busch’s Busch Light beer this May, and Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob Ultra beers have also obtained U.S. Farmed certification,” the company said in a statement.
American Farmland Trust, in the meantime, will use funds raised through those certifications to expand programs and provide U.S. farmers in all 50 states with free resources and advisory services to help them access, protect, and maintain American farmland.
Find more information at farmland.org.
THREE WORDS
One lawmaker is still pondering the U.S. Military Academy’s recent decision to replace the academy’s traditional “Duty, Honor, Country” motto — which had been in place since 1898 — with the phrase “Army Values.”
Rep. Jim Banks has penned a letter to Lt. Gen. Steven W. Gilland, the academy’s superintendent, asking that he answer five questions by March 29. They are not easy inquiries.
The lawmaker wondered, for example, if West Point seeks to “instill patriotism in its cadets.”
The Indiana Republican also asked: “Does West Point teach cadets that America is the greatest country in the history of the world?”
Mr. Banks has been concerned about this matter for quite a while.
“This is bigger than just a few words in a mission statement. This time last year I wrote the West Point Superintendent because cadets were being forced to role play skits about using ‘preferred pronouns.’ Our military academies are the finest in the world and cannot fall victim to the woke virus infecting every level of government under the Biden administration,” Mr. Banks said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
ON THE RADAR
Author Craig Shirley — who has penned half a dozen remarkable biographies about Ronald Reagan — has another president in mind at the moment.
“I am now hard at work on a book about the Trump 2024 campaign, having just finished my sixth book on Ronald Reagan,” Mr. Shirley said in an email to Inside the Beltway.
“The tentative title is ‘Comeback.’ It will be a fair and honest book about Donald Trump and his campaign staff, unlike that which is already being reported by the leftwing media. A corrective,” the author said.
“I will interview all the senior staff extensively as well as key members of Congress and supporting organizations,” Mr. Shirley said.
Indeed. There will likely be an eager audience for this book, and one likely focused on the results of the Nov. 5 presidential election. Expect an update in the near future.
And one more thing. Mr. Shirley’s aforementioned sixth book on the 40th president is “The Search for Reagan: The Appealing Intellectual Conservatism of Ronald Reagan.” It was published by Post Hill Press in February.
FOXIFIED
In the week of March 11-17, Fox News remained the most watched network in the entire cable realm, according to Nielsen Media Research.
This marks 10 consecutive weeks as No. 1 throughout the day and nine weeks as top dog in prime time. And some numbers: Fox News Channel drew a daily average of 2.1 million prime-time viewers, compared with MSNBC with 1.2 million and CNN with 563,000.
In the daytime, Fox News averaged 1.3 million viewers, compared with MSNBC with 789,000 and CNN with 432,000. This marked the 161st consecutive week that Fox News has finished first in cable news with daytime viewers. In addition, the network also aired 78 of the top 100 cable news telecasts for the week.
The champion shows for the week were “The Five” with an average of 2.9 million daily viewers and “Jesse Watters Primetime” with an audience of 2.7 million. “Hannity” followed with 2.4 million viewers, while smart and funny nightyo,r host Greg Gutfeld drew an audience of 2.2 million with his show “Gutfeld!” And yes, the show’s title includes an exclamation point.
POLL DU JOUR
• 40% of U.S. adults have feelings of dread when they think about the 2024 presidential election.
• 31% have feelings of optimism when they think about the election.
• 29% have feelings of exhaustion about the election
• 21% have feelings of depression about the election.
• 19% have feelings of excitement.
• 15% have feelings of indifference.
• 8% have feelings of delight.
• 12% have none of these feelings.
SOURCE: A Yahoo News/YouGov survey of 1,482 U.S. adults conducted March 8-11. Respondents could choose more than one feeling.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin, on Facebook @HarperUniverse.