Policy

Iowa's Rural Voters Are The First To Have A Say, Which Holds Sway Over Candidates' Policies

By • Aug 2, 2019
Amy Mayer / Harvest Public Media

Presidential candidates have been fanning out across Iowa for months ahead of the 2020 election, creating an opportunity for voters to get agricultural issues on the national agenda. 

Wind Energy Could Suffer Under US House Tax Bill Proposal

By Amy Mayer • Nov 21, 2017
Companies that invest in wind energy production say the proposed tax reform bill passed last week in the U.S. House would cost the country jobs and investment.
Amy Mayer / file: Harvest Public Media

The tax reform bill passed Nov. 16 by the U.S. House could slow development in the wind energy sector by reopening a two-year-old deal.

One industry leader says they’ll need the Senate in their court to protect their current agreement, which phases out production and investment tax credits through 2020.

The 'Ghost Geography' Of Midwest Farmland And A Year In The Life Of A Modern American Family Farm

By • Sep 14, 2017
A grain cart collects corn harvested from one of the Hammond family's fields.
Courtesy Mary Anne Andrei

Every year on the farm has its challenges. There are weeds, insects and random hailstorms. Unpredictable global markets can make or break a profitable crop. Recent years, though, have been especially troubling for the Hammond farm in York County in eastern Nebraska.

Alarm Raised Over President's Choice For USDA Top Science Job: He's No Scientist

By Amy Mayer • Aug 14, 2017
Courtesy of Iowans for Sam Clovis

As President Donald Trump continues to fill political appointments, his nomination for the top science job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture is raising unique concerns.

Trump has chosen Iowan Sam Clovis to be undersecretary of agriculture for research, education and economics. Clovis served as a fighter pilot in the Air Force, has a doctorate in public administration, and taught economics at Morningside College in Sioux City.

Sioux City is also where he gained a following as a conservative talk show host.

We Spoke With New Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue. Here's What He Said On Climate Change And Immigration

By • May 4, 2017
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue makes a speech to the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City on April 28.
Julie Denesha / File/For Harvest Public Media

Sonny Perdue, the former governor of Georgia, was sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture at the end of April.

Harvest Public Media’s Peggy Lowe sat down with Perdue on his fourth day on the job at the American Royal complex in Kansas City, Missouri. She asked him about the Trump Administration’s priorities for our food system, government nutrition programs, immigration policy and the future of the Agriculture Department.

Study: Agriculture Sector Should Ramp Up Response To Climate Change

By • Mar 6, 2017

The agriculture sector needs to ramp up its response to climate change, especially in the Midwest, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  

Researchers at the University of Maryland used climate projections and historical trends in agricultural productivity to predict how changes in temperature and rainfall will impact food production.

Trump Moves To Roll Back Environmental Rules Opposed By Midwest Farm Groups

By • Feb 28, 2017

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Tuesday directing the Environmental Protection Agency to revise a controversial environmental rule opposed by many Midwest farm groups.

Trump ordered new EPA administrator Scott Pruitt to formally revise the Obama Administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the U.S. Rule, which was meant to explain which rivers, streams and creeks are subject to regulation by the EPA.

Health Insurance Woes Add To The Risky Business Of Farming

By editor • Feb 28, 2017

There are many challenges to farming for a living: It's often grueling work that relies on unpredictable factors such as weather and global market prices. But one aspect that's often ignored is the cost of health care.

A University of Vermont researcher found that nationally, most farmers cited health care costs as a top concern.

Shoshanah Inwood is a rural sociologist at UVM. She has been studying the aging and shrinking farm population, and what components are needed to build a prosperous farm economy.

Mountain Of Debt Delays Some Missouri Graduates From A Dream: Farming

By • Feb 27, 2017

Liz Graznak runs an organic farm in Jamestown, Missouri, which she calls Happy Hollow Farm. She sells her vegetables to local restaurants, in CSA boxes and at the farmer’s market.  But eight years ago, after falling in love with the idea of growing her own local produce, the farm she runs today looked like a near-impossible dream.

At Field Hearing, Kansas Farmers Talk Farm Bill

By • Feb 24, 2017

At a stressful time for U.S. farmers, the government’s efforts at calming the agricultural waters took center stage Thursday, when the heads of the U.S. Senate’s Agriculture Committee left Washington for the Midwest to solicit opinions on priorities for the next Farm Bill.

U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts, R-KS, and Debbie Stabenow, D-MI, heard from Midwest farmers at their first field hearing on the 2018 Farm Bill at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

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