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For Farmland Conservation, It Comes Down To Who Owns It

Lin Warfel puts farmland owners in central Illinois into two categories: Those with a deep connection and desire to preserve their land, and those obsessed with short-term money. The 80-year-old still owns the land that’s been in his family since his great-grandfather arrived in Champaign County in the 1800’s. After farming it for decades, he now rents the corn and soybean operation to his neighbors down the road. It’s a crop-share arrangement. Warfel provides the land and pays the taxes. His...

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Lawsuit Alleges Former JBS Employee Harassed By Coworkers Due To Religion, Race

By Esther Honig • Aug 24, 2018

Stephanie Paige Ogburn / Harvest Public Media file photo

Major meatpacking company JBS USA faces another religious discrimination lawsuit.

The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleges that officials at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley didn’t intervene or prevent racial and religious discrimination that 37-year-old former employee Kacem Andalib said he experienced.

U.S. Lumber Benefiting From A Trade Dispute That Trump Didn’t Start

By Esther Honig • Aug 24, 2018

Back in 2012, one of the major employers in Montrose, Colorado, a sawmill, was in receivership and on the brink of collapse. At the time, local media reported that the cost of logging timber had become prohibitively expensive, and the log yard was nearly empty.

These days, logs are stacked high next to a humming mill. Production is up 20 percent from even just 2016.

A Little Livestock Could Go a Long Way On An Organic Farm

By Amy Mayer • Aug 21, 2018

Consumers are buying more certified organic fruits and vegetables every year, and in the Midwest and Plains states, much of it is grown on small farms.

To comply with organic rules, some use livestock to provide natural fertilizer. Two separate studies in Iowa are trying to quantify the soil health, yield and, eventually, economic impact of grazing animals on the fields after vegetables are harvested.

Farmers Say Current Trade War Mirrors 1980 Russian Grain Embargo

By Frank Morris • Aug 20, 2018

A soybean field in Jasper County, Iowa, in 2016 — Amy Mayer / Harvest Public Media file photo

Harvest season isn’t far away for corn and soybean farmers, whose crops are worth less now than when they planted in the spring due to the United States’ trade war.

“We don't know what to think from one day to the next. It's hard to plan,” said Duane Hund, a farmer in Kansas’ Flint Hills.

Forty percent of farmers polled this summer by Farm Futures said President Donald Trump’s trade policy is permanently damaging U.S. agriculture. The scrambling of global markets is just beginning, Hund said, and pointed to the 1980 Russian grain embargo as an example.

Whole Wheat: Complete Genome Expected To Spark Research

By Grant Gerlock • Aug 17, 2018

Nebraska wheat farmer Larry Florh inspects an unripened head of wheat. — Grant Gerlock / Harvest Public Media file photo

After 13 years of work, a consortium of 200 scientists from 20 countries has released the first complete genome sequence for wheat. The discovery sets the stage for advances in a staple crop at a time when rising temperatures are beginning to threaten global production.

Kansas City-Area Congressional Delegation To USDA: Move Your Research Here

By Erica Hunzinger • Aug 17, 2018

Updated Aug. 22, 2018 — Two research arms of the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be moving out of Washington, D.C. Three of Missouri’s U.S. representatives and one from Kansas said Kansas City is the perfect place for those agencies.

Marshall Touts Progress On Agricultural Guest Worker Visa

By Ben Kuebrich • Aug 16, 2018

On a western Kansas tour this week, U.S. Congressman Roger Marshall touted progress on a new proposal that would let more immigrants come into the country on guest visas to work on farms, in meat-packing plants and other agricultural jobs.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House in July would provide a temporary guest worker visa — known as the H-2C — for year-round agricultural work. Its co-sponsors include Marshall and fellow Kansas Republicans, Lynn Jenkins and Ron Estes.

Wind-Blown Pesticides An Issue In Courtrooms, Communities Across U.S.

By Madelyn Beck • Aug 13, 2018

Nicole Erwin / Ohio Valley ReSource file photo

Pesticides are all over, from backyard gardens to cornfields. While their use doesn’t appear to be slowing, concern over drift and the resulting effects on health is driving research — and more worries.

Those concerns are bringing pesticides to a different venue: courtrooms.

Pig Virus Found In China Puts U.S. Officials On Alert

By Amy Mayer • Aug 7, 2018

Amy Mayer / Harvest Public Media file photo

Veterinarians and officials are hoping to keep a deadly foreign virus from infecting the American hog industry. African swine fever has been making its way off its namesake continent and into Europe, including Russia. Now, it’s reached China, leading to the culling of about 8,000 hogs.

Food Recalls Abound This Summer, But Experts Say That’s A Good Thing

By Madelyn Beck • Aug 6, 2018

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

From E. coli in romaine lettuce to potential salmonella on Goldfish crackers to a parasite in salads and wraps, food recalls are in the spotlight this year. But things may not be as bad as they sound, according to Lana Nwadike, a food safety specialist with Kansas State University and the University of Missouri.

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