A time to plant

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven; … a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted.   (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

It’s difficult to imagine that in Montana, with our rich agricultural tradition and our many millions of acres dedicated to crops and livestock, we face the very real prospect of a food shortage in the coming year.

A growing food cataclysm already is sweeping much of the globe. The COVID pandemic and inflation have left 276 million people severely food-insecure, which according to the United Nations is double the number of two years ago. The number of people experiencing famine conditions, it says, has increased fivefold since 2016.