Money should be the story.

The world is still emerging from the Great Recession, for crying out loud, like some flea-bitten woodchuck hoping that shadow in the mirror doesn’t mean what he thinks it does.

“Although the support to economic growth from fiscal policy is likely to diminish in the coming year, the incoming data suggest that gains in private final demand will sustain the recovery in economic activity,” said Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, in June, addressing the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget (see Slow and Steady page 16). “ …Consumer spending is likely to increase at a moderate pace going forward, supported by a gradual pickup in employment and income, greater consumer confidence, and some improvement in credit conditions.”

Things are looking up in the cattle business, too.

“Livestock producers have seen a return to profitability in the past two months after going through probably the worst economic situation anyone can remember in 2008 and 2009,” said John Anderson, livestock economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, in May (see Beyond Record Cattle Prices page 18).

In fact, analysts with the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) say Cow-calf producers are on track to net the most economic return this year since 2006.

After two years of red ink, feedlots are even starting to make some money. This could be the year recognized in the rearview mirror as the threshold of the next cattle cycle, when producers start expanding again, albeit likely on the slow side.

But, money isn’t the story.

Maybe it’s about how folks in the cattle business are turning the tables on activist groups.

“Animal well-being is the foundation for the performance, health and profitability of cattle raised for beef, and as an industry, we take great pride in our responsibility to properly care for animals,” says Dan Thomson, DVM director of the Beef Cattle Institute at Kansas State University (KSU). “We’re constantly looking for new and innovative ways to build upon existing science to ensure healthy animals and safe, quality products to feed the world’s population. (see All for One page 34)”

More than 800 people from 27 states and six countries attended this year’s International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare, either in person or via the internet in real time. All in the name of improving already excellent livestock care.

Producers are letting their consumers know the truth about it, too, rather than let activists tell the story they want the public to hear.

“We are facing tough accusations from critics about our modern food production, and we have no choice but to take our story directly to consumers in our local communities and in the global online community. That’s what graduates of the Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) program are doing every day.” says Daren Williams, executive director of communications for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), which contracts to manage the MBA program for the beef checkoff.

As of May, there were 1,366 MBA graduates and 1,484 students on their way to graduation. The program began in 2008 (see You are Dead Wrong page 20).

Heartening news, necessary effort. But that’s not the story, either.

Maybe the story is about all of this global warming mess, and the scandal the popular press has been so slow to relate (see Global Fizzle page 28).

“None of the scary stuff about global warming is true, and what is true about global warming, what the science actually tells us about man’s role in changing the climate, is far from terrifying,” said Ben Lieberman, Policy Analyst for Energy and Environment at The Heritage Foundation. He was speaking at the International Conference on Climate Change sponsored by The Heartland Institute. “So those who have attended the Heartland conferences, or read its Report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, are the ones least surprised by the lengths the U.N. scientists had to go in order to manufacture a global warming crisis.

“…Global warming is not a crisis and should not be addressed as one. Pending global warming bills before Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations would do far more economic harm than environmental good.”

But, that’s not the story, either, not exactly.

Maybe it’s hunger.

For all of the progress, lots of folks still go to bed with an empty stomach; lots of them die because of it.

Hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, combined, according to the World Food Programme (WPF). Hunger tops the list of the of the world’s top 10 health risks; 1.02 billion—that’s billion—people go hungry every day.

The Great Recession made it worse, too. Though international food commodity prices have declined from levels seen during the nightmarish bubble phase, those prices remain 20% higher than the five-year average in 75% of the 58 countries monitored by WPF.

And the world population continues to grow, and so does demand. Reflecting on last year’s record U.S. corn crop and projections for another one this year, Darrel Good, agricultural economist at the University of Illinois explained, “The bottom line is that another record U.S. corn crop will be required in 2010 to accommodate growing consumption (see One Good Drought page 26).”

Yep, hunger; that’s definitely a big part of the story.

Then there’s freedom. Used to be an afterthought in this country.

“This $900 billion, 2,800-page bill is not healthcare reform,” said Thomas J. Donahue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Healthcare Reform) became law in May. “It fails to fix what is broken and risks breaking what already works. It will drive up healthcare costs and make coverage less affordable for businesses and families. It marks a major step down the road to a government-run healthcare system. It will further expand entitlements and explode the deficit, and raises taxes by a half a trillion dollars at the worst possible time. American jobs and growth are at risk thanks to the decision by the House today.”

Worse, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said after Congress passed the law, “The federal healthcare legislation signed today violates the United States Constitution and unconstitutionally infringes upon Texans’ individual liberties…No public policy goal—no matter how important or well-intentioned—can be allowed to trample the protections and rights guaranteed by our Constitution.”

That’s why Texas and 19 other states, along with individuals and organizations are going to court, fighting over the constitutionality of the law (see Rights for Me page 22).

Besides laws, folks are going to the mat over regulations, too.

“Instead of letting the issue of climate change, and man’s alleged contribution to it, be addressed through the proper democratic legislative process, EPA has decided to trump Congress and mandate greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act,” said Tamara Thies, NCBA chief environmental counsel (see Under My Thumb-Part II page 90). “The Act (Clean Air) is ill-equipped to address climate change, and Congress never intended for it to be used for that purpose.”

NCBA was one of a broad coalition of agricultural groups speaking in favor of the Resolution of Disapproval aimed the EPA designation, introduced by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) in May.

“I had hopes, for the security of our economy, that we would prevail today,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) after the resolution failed. “But regardless of the outcome, I believe it’s important that every member of the Senate is on the record on whether they think the EPA regulation is the appropriate way to address climate issues.”

Then, there’s immigration form, or the lack of it. The murder of an Arizona rancher heightened the urgency.

Talking about Luna County in New Mexico, according to The Burden Falls on Border Counties, “As noted by officials in other border counties, the character of the criminal undocumented immigrants has changed. They are present in greater numbers and have become bolder, stealing money, food, and staples from isolated homes near the border as well as equipment from farmers and ranchers. Often, innocent entrants are part of a larger group that commits these crimes. Moreover, the number of deaths is up. Thirty-five bodies have been recovered in the last two years, mostly due to weather (see You STILL Ain’t from Around Here page 30).”

There’s another side to this, of course.

“When people say they should go to the back of the line and wait – there isn’t any line for them to realistically get into,” explains Elise Healy, who leads the business immigration practice of Spencer, Crain, Cubbage, Healy and McNamara. Healy helps businesses, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, navigate the murky waters of immigration law when they need to hire foreign nationals (see Nothing New page 48).

The list goes on.

According to the Gallup organization in June, 59% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they were more enthusiastic about voting in this November’s elections than past elections. That’s the highest average in a mid-term election year for either party since the folks at Gallup began asking the question in 1994 (see Charge page 24).
So, freedom has to be part of the story, too.

It’s about Freedom.

It’s about hunger.

That’s the story.

It’s about ongoing urgency to feed a growing, hungry world, while at the same time fighting to retain the freedoms to do so.