Predictably last week's State of the Union speech was full of political theatrics but short on specifics. Each year I find it harder and harder to watch our nation's leaders play to the tv cameras with their orchestrated responses to lines delivered by the President. I'd rather read the speech than watch it. As usual there wasn't much in it about agriculture except for some references to trade and energy which focused mostly on natural gas. I did agree with the President's oft stated position of ending subsidies for the oil companies. Even the President's most agriculture related comments came off as a weak attempt at humor when he pointed out his administration decided not to treat milk the same as oil in the event of a leak. What he failed to mention was how long it took them to make what was on obvious decision. Interestingly the President made the comment that a farmer didn't need a government agency looking over his shoulder to do the right thing. I wish he would apply the same logic to several other areas of agriculture threatened by governmental agency over reach such as dust and youth labor.

The President's call for higher taxes for himself and members of Congress sounded good but were easy to make considering they are the ones making that decision and the chances of it happening are slim. As expected, the State of the Union speech was mainly a campaign speech setting the tone for a long year of partisan politics. It's frustrating to watch politicians raise millions of dollars for their campaigns so they can tell the rest of us how much we need to cut spending. Even the President alluded to how little will probably get done in Washington this year because of the approaching election. Well if that's the case why not have them take a year off, WITHOUT PAY, and use that money for deficit reduction!

Listening to comments from AgriTalk listeners about the Keystone XL pipeline project, it's obvious that more information is needed. Questions about use of the oil as well as its environmental impact need to be answered. Benefits of the pipeline need to be explained before widespread public acceptance can be expected.

The President also mentioned in his State of the Union speech last week the need to improve our nation's infrastructure. This week on AgriTalk we'll take a look at a study funded by the United Soybean Board showing the economic vulnerability caused by a crumbling and aging lock and dam system. We'll also get more reaction to the new school lunch rules, travel to Las Vegas for the National Association of Concervation Districts convention and look at the impact of record land prices and rising farm incomes on rural banks. It will be another busy week and we hope you will join us on AgriTalk.