[imgbelt img=PalininNH.jpeg]When it comes to New Hampshire, where’s Palin?The Boston Globe notes that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is spending plenty of time on Fox and in Iowa, but has kept out of the second rural state to have an early say on presidential nominations, New Hampshire. (Palin, above, was in the state in October 2008, when she was campaigning for the vice presidency.)It’s not exactly like New Hampshire is dicey territory for Republicans. The state legislature is pure R these days, as are the two new members of the House. • Some farmland in Sioux County, Iowa, recently went from just a smidgen under $14,000 an acre. Nothing special about the land, according to DTN’s Elizabeth Williams. In other words, farmland prices are still going up, the market boiling but maybe not yet bubbling.• The Interior Department has announced a plan it says will speed up wind energy development just off the Atlantic Coast. Remember the toil it took to approve the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound? Interior is hoping that by identifying sites with “high wind potential,” it will be able to avoid that kind of battle.• Deere & Co. reported a 33 percent increase in farm equipment sales — and fourth quarter profits more than double those of 2009. Deere said it expected ag equipment sales to be flat next year, simply because the company is unable to increase its production.• Brownfield tells us that the Peace Corps is recruiting college graduates in agriculture. Actually, they are looking for anyone with a background in ag to work in developing countries. • Creighton University’s Mainstreet Economy Index, stalled since June, moved up in November. The index of the economy of the rural Midwest is pressing upward because of strong land and commodity prices and farm equipment sales.