[imgbelt img=VEGETABLES1_span-articleLarge.jpg]The Wall Street Journal reports today, in a headline, that “Democrats Face Skeptics in Rural Areas.”The story is based on a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll from last month finding that 66% of rural Americans think the country is on the wrong track, five points higher than U.S. voters as a whole. Reporter Douglas Belkin says this anti-D mood is strong across the rural Midwest, but most conspicuous in North Dakota.• The New York Times reported on the front page Sunday that Americans aren’t eating vegetables. In fact, the amount of vegetables Americans eat hasn’t gone up since 2000, despite the push to have people eat more greens. The number of dinners prepared at home that included salads is now 17 percent; in 1994, it was 22%. One company is now trying to sell baby carrots like candy bars. (Above) Okay, but the amazing thing in the story was a report about a vegetable auction at Southeby’s last Thursday night, part of a daylong event called “The Art of Farming.” It was a fundraiser to help hunger organizations. The auction of heirloom vegetables raised $250,000.• The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa schools are facing their biggest set of mergers in 15 years “as more districts trade hometown identity for financial security.” Iowa had 458 school districts in 1965. Net year, that will drop to 353.• A tech company has raised $5.3 million to fund a start-up company, Harvest Automation. The robot will move potted plants around nurseries.• DTN reports that world fertilizer prices are still rising. And supplies are tight.