The Post-Partisan Emporium

Farmland Shock: Georgia Grower Drops 3,000 Acres, Warns of Unplanted Ground in 2026   Responding to crippling input costs, Alex Harrell slashes his cropland in half and predicts significant U.S. acres may be bare come spring. By  Chris Bennett  •  January 05, 2026 06:30 AM “Guys are quitting and walking away, and that eventually leads to land that doesn’t get picked up … Cropland with no crop,” says Alex Harrell. (Photo courtesy of Harrell Farms) How deep is the farm crisis? Adios to acreage. In November 2025, Alex Harrell, among the most highly reputed producers in the U.S., dropped an old-school grading scale, A to F, across his 6,000-acre operation and slashed almost half his ground, notifying 12 landlords in a three-week window. “I can’t speak to the rest of the country, but around here, generational growers are either cutting back, quitting, falling into Chapter 12, or grasping at straws.” Spurred by crippling inputs, Harrell’s acreage drop is an alarming indica...

  ‘Expresso Vaccines’ and Lessons from the American Chestnut Tree Why a vaccine designed in two days faced less regulatory scrutiny than a venerable nut tree that sustained life for centuries Dr. Mathew Maavak A tree that once fed multitudes now faces a decade of federal red tape before a single seed can touch wild soil, while a brand-new genetic vaccine, cooked up in 48 hours and injected into billions, sailed through approval in under a year. One restores a vanished forest, the other rewrote human cells on a planetary scale. Both are genetic modifications, yet one is treated as a potential ecological threat while the other is hailed as a modern miracle. Welcome to the “expresso lane” of modern biotechnology, where speed, risk, and scrutiny depend entirely on whose veins are on the line. Reign of the Chestnut King In the ancient forests of Appalachia, the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) once towered as the unmatched monarch. Stretching from the southern ridges to southern Can...