Author Profile
John Ikerd
John Ikerd was raised on a small dairy farm in southwest Missouri. He received his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. After working in private industry, he spent 30 years in various professorial positions at North Carolina State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Georgia and the University of Missouri before retiring in early 2000. He now spends most of his time writing and speaking on issues related to sustainability with an emphasis on economics and agriculture. He currently resides in Fairfield, Iowa and is the author of several books including Essentials of Economic Sustainability, Sustainable Capitalism, A Return to Common Sense and Crisis and Opportunity: Sustainability in American Agriculture and A Revolution of the Middle.
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Land Trusts Are a Step Toward a Step Toward a Sustainable Future for Agriculture
“The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust or SILT was launched 2015 to help save and protect the best of the family farm – small, diverse, clean farms that feed Iowans.”... MORE
Rural America · July 18, 2018
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The Three “Great Separations” that Unravelled Our Connection to Earth and Each Other
We are confronted today with a multidimensional ecological, social, and economic crisis that is rooted in our growing sense of disconnectedness from each other and from the Earth. In his book, The Great... MORE
Rural America · April 24, 2018
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What if Organic Standards Were Bioregional and Written by Real Organic Farmers?
I seem to view organic standards a bit differently from most people involved in the organic movement. I see standardization as a requisite for industrialization. Standards tend to simplify production processes, but complex... MORE
Rural America · March 5, 2018
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How Big Ag Is Borrowing Big Tobacco’s Playbook
Questions of “sound science” and “burden of proof” invariably arise from conflicting indictments and defenses of industrial agricultural as either a threat or service to public interests. Defenders invariably... MORE
Rural America · February 13, 2018
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This Is Why Carrots Cost More Than Twinkies
In a recent article, Washington Post food columnist Tamar Haspel took author and journalist Michael Pollan to task for blaming the farm bill for the sizable price difference between junk... MORE
Rural America · January 12, 2018
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A Big Farm Can Be Sustainable…But Only if It’s Managed Like a Collection of Small Farms
Does farm size matter to agricultural sustainability? My answer consistently has been, "Yes!" It’s easier to manage a small farm sustainably because sustainability requires more management per acre farmed or dollar... MORE
Rural America · December 1, 2017
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Rural Communities Look to the Past to Defeat the Industrial Agriculture of the Present
People in rural communities are beginning to join forces to defend their health and well-being against the inherent threats posed by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). I believe that the future leadership of... MORE
Rural America · November 21, 2017
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How Corporate Science and Alternative Facts Limit Our Reality
A consensus among scientists is no longer accepted as proof of the existence of fact or reality. Public acceptance of “alternative facts” is not limited to the political arena. Many sustainable... MORE
Rural America · September 20, 2017
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Transnational Corporations, Factory Farms and the Economic Colonization of Rural America
In 2011, Margaret Wheatley, a widely respected scholar and one of the leading thinkers in the United States on matters of institutional and cultural change, identified three major trends shaping U.S. society: 1) ... MORE
Rural America · August 3, 2017
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Game Over: Neither Party’s Health Care Plan Reflects Economic Reality
The controversy surrounding health care provides a compelling case for finding common ground. The proposed Republican healthcare plan is even more flawed than the failing Democratic plan. We urgently need healthcare reform, but... MORE
Rural America · July 7, 2017