Rona Johnson

I am proud to me an American and I, like most of The Fence Post readers, have been and will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. I fervently hope that people will take this time to appreciate what it’s like to live in a free country. I know it seems like the country seems horribly divided but we’ve been through trying times before — especially during the Civil War — and we have persevered.

I have to say that the 2026 FIFA World Cup games being played in major U.S. cities was a joy to behold. I’m not a soccer fan, but I love the stories about people coming from foreign countries to the U.S. for the first time. It’s heartening to hear the players and their fans gush about how great this country is treating them. Hats off to the people who welcomed these foreigners and showed them what U.S. hospitality is all about. The stories about the fans from Scotland were especially fun to read.

Now that the New World screwworm has been found in the U.S. we in the ag industry need to remind people that it is not a food safety issue. It is also not a disease but an infestation. As Dudley Hoskins, U.S. under secretary of agriculture for marketing and regulatory programs, said “The screwworm is not contagious. It does not spread directly from animals to people or from person to person. And the screwworm does not pose a food safety risk.