Harvest Public Media | Cultivating stories from the ground up

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...

After Meatpacking Outbreaks, Questions Loom Around Protecting Workers In The Future

World’s Biggest Meat Processor Says It’s Nearly Overcome A Cyberattack That Shut Down Its Plants

Widespread Drought Across US Stoking Fears That 2012's Devastation Will Repeat

By Madelyn Beck • Feb 26, 2018

Western Illinois might be close to the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, but it’s the driest part of the state this year.

“We really haven’t really had any measurable rain since the middle of October,” says Ken Schafer, who farms winter wheat, corn and soybeans in Jerseyville, north of St. Louis. “I dug some post-holes this winter, and it's just dust.”

USDA To Stakeholders: We Want To Change Food-Stamp Work Requirements

By Madelyn Beck • Feb 22, 2018

Kristofor Husted / File/Harvest Public Media

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it wants feedback on how to get a certain segment of Americans out of poverty and off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps.

Starting Friday, the public — as well as states and other stakeholders — will have 45 days to comment about possible changes to SNAP benefits for recipients who are between the ages of 18 to 49 and don’t have dependents. They make up about 9 percent of the SNAP recipients, the USDA says.

Study: Intensive Agriculture Drives Midwest Climate Changes

By Amy Mayer • Feb 16, 2018

Amy Mayer / Harvest Public Media file photo

As agriculture intensified in the 20th century, summers in the Midwest became wetter and cooler.

An MIT study published this month looked at whether vegetation from crop production, rather than greenhouse gas emissions that are an established source of climate changes, could have driven these regional impacts.

Conservation Programs In Farm Bill Can Help Farmers Protect Environment, Wallet

By Kristofor Husted • Feb 12, 2018

Farmers depend on productive, sustainable land, clean water and air and healthy animals to make a living. To help create those conditions and protect ecosystems, they get help from conservation programs that make up about 6 percent of the $500 billion federal farm bill.

About Half Of SNAP Benefits Would Be Boxed-Up Nonperishable Foods In Trump’s Proposed Budget

By Erica Hunzinger • Feb 12, 2018

Leigh Paterson / File/Harvest Public Media

About 16.4 million people who receive federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would not have a say in how to spend about half of their monthly benefits under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for the 2019 fiscal year.

Low-income Americans who receive at least $90 a month would see "about half" of their benefits come in the form of a nonperishable, American-grown “USDA Foods package,” or a "Harvest Box," according to a news release Monday from the USDA, which runs SNAP.

Nature Vs. Nurture: Hard To Measure Farmers' Impact On Nutritional Values

By Amy Mayer • Feb 9, 2018

No matter how far fruits or vegetables travel, whether they’re grown organically or conventionally, they’re packed with vitamins, minerals and other necessary nutrients. The men and women in the fields try to grow foods with an eye to boosting the health factor, but researchers say it’s hard to measure the precise impact.

‘What Are We Gonna Do With Them?’ Livestock Hauling Industry Concerned About New Federal Rules

By Ben Kuebrich • Feb 2, 2018

Ben Kuebrich / Kansas News Service/Harvest Public Media

A new, widely debated federal mandate requires truckers to electronically track the number of hours they’re on the road — a rule that’s meant to make highways safer. But there’s a big difference between hauling a load of TVs and a load of cattle destined for meatpacking plants.

11 Dicamba-Damage Lawsuits To Be Consolidated In Federal Court In St. Louis

By Erica Hunzinger • Feb 2, 2018

Dicamba-resistant soybeans sit in a field in rural McLean County, Illinois, in August. — Darrell Hoemann / Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting file photo

Lawsuits filed in Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri against the makers of the herbicide dicamba will be centralized in the federal court in St. Louis.

The Associated Press reports that the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Ligitation decided Thursday to centralize the 11 cases, which allege the herbicide caused significant damage to soybean crops.

Better Food Safety The Goal Behind USDA, FDA Pledge To Work Together

By Grant Gerlock • Feb 1, 2018

The FDA is responsible for ensuring the safety of most foods, but anything that includes meat falls under the jurisdiction of the USDA. That includes things like the breakfast sandwiches in the frozen foods aisle of this Walmart in Lincoln, Nebraska. — File/Grant Gerlock / Harvest Public Media

The two federal agencies tasked with enforcing the nation’s food safety laws agreed this week to collaborate better, update biotechnology regulations and implement new safety inspections on produce farms.

The biggest change from the agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, however, could come from a review of how food processing facilities currently are regulated by both departments. Experts say that could lead to less paperwork for food manufacturers and more streamlined reports of recalls and other food safety issues.

Which Side Are You On? When It Comes To Farm Bill Politics, The Lines Blur

By Erica Hunzinger • Jan 31, 2018

Partisan politics may meet its match in the 2018 farm bill.

The massive legislation, versions of which will be introduced this spring in the U.S. House and Senate, is shaping up to be less about political affiliations and more about finding common ground.

Top Stories