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An Iowa farm county seeks answers to cancer rate 50% higher than national average
EMMETSBURG, Iowa — Raised in rural Iowa, 71-year-old Maureen Reeves Horsley once considered her tiny hometown in the northwest part of the state to be a blessed space. She recalls a time when the streams here ran clean and the lake water was clear. The family farm where Horsley...
The top 5 things to know about groundwater depletion in Oklahoma’s panhandle
The Oklahoma panhandle is running out of water from the Ogallala Aquifer, and the industrial hog industry is largely to blame. Groundwater is used to grow crops for feed, raise hogs and process pork. However, Investigate Midwest found that the state’s weak water laws make the problem difficult to track...
Parched in the Panhandle
* Groundwater levels in the panhandle have been declining for decades but depleted at a quicker rate after the opening of Seaboard's pork processing plant. * State water laws have aided the depletion as well users don't have to prove how much water they use each year. * City officials...
For a century, this upper Mississippi River refuge has been an ecological oasis. What comes next?
MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. — Sabrina Chandler spent much of her life on the other end of the Mississippi River. Growing up on the Gulf Coast near New Orleans, where levees wall the river off, she had to work to see it. Near the delta, the river is a big, scary, powerful thing. People fear it.
GRAPHIC: Agritourism income explodes across the Midwest, alongside a steady increase in operators
The number of farms that receive income from agritourism has steadily grown in the Upper Midwest over the last two decades. At that same time, the agritourism industry has grown exponentially for farmers across most of the region, according to agriculture census data. Agritourism is defined by the U.S. Department...
New DOL independent contractor rule may not be a cure-all for chicken farmers
Chicken farmers have long chafed at Big Poultry’s tournament system where neighboring farms are pitted against one another. Big Poultry says the system is all puppy dogs and blue skies. It isn’t. Producers working under a tournament contract have little control of their businesses. It’s the poultry companies...
Report: Rural America produces greenhouse gasses on behalf of urban and suburban areas
A new report shows that at least 36% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from rural America, but they’re mostly used to produce energy and food for urban and suburban America. And while rural communities – particularly low-income and rural communities of color – are...
As USDA updates the Packers and Stockyard Act, meat industry increases political spending, lobbying
Meat industry groups and major meat companies spent more than $10 million on political contributions and lobbying efforts in 2023. For some, last year’s spending was an all-time high. The federal government has been rolling out changes to the protections given to livestock and poultry producers, as well as...
GRAPHIC: More cattle passing through largest feedlots
The number of cattle feedlots with more than 50,000 head has nearly doubled over the past 30 years as large feedlots handle an increasing share of cows across the country. In 1992, 39 feedlots had a capacity of at least 50,000 head annually and handled 16.8% of the nation’s cattle inventory, according to historic USDA records.
Iowa AG asked to pursue penalties against co-op that caused massive fertilizer spill
This story was originally published by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Piles of rotting shiners, a dying snake draped over a log and a belly-up frog floating in the East Nishnabotna River. These were the photos the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission saw before voting unanimously Wednesday to ask the Iowa Attorney...
GRAPHIC: Highly pathogenic avian influenza spreading among commercial and backyard birds
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, has been circulating the globe since 1996. The virus has grown more deadly to birds since it started spreading in North America in 2021. The disease spreads quickly among birds, and is nearly always fatal for poultry raised on large commercial farms. In late...
US Supreme Court hands a win to some property owners, but remains silent on bigger issue
When we last visited Texas’ claim that several of the state’s property owners didn’t have the right to sue for damages to their property under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, the case surrounding a 32-inch high concrete retaining wall had arrived in the U.S. Supreme Court.
GRAPHIC: High-speed internet access for farmers varies by state
Access to reliable high-speed internet is a convenience and a necessity for people because it enables more affordable and efficient use of essential services such as education, health care, public safety, and government services. In agriculture, high-speed internet can help farmers practice precision agriculture — the ability to know the proper amount of inputs, such as fertilizer and water, to conserve resources.
Response to avian flu in US dairy herd lacking
It was in 1997 while working at WILL-AM 580 in Urbana that I first heard about Asian highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), i.e. “bird flu.” A strain of the flu, H5N1, especially deadly for poultry, had somehow infected humans that year during an outbreak in Hong Kong. I...
What you need to know about Tyson’s former contract growers
Farmers who raise chickens for Tyson Foods are stuck with mountains of debt after the company closed six chicken processing plants across the country in 2023. Here are the five major takeaways from this story:. Chicken farmers often have large amounts of debt. Former Tyson contract growers who spoke to...
Money talks and ‘no antibiotics ever’ pledges walk
Back in February 2014, Chick-fil-A pledged to boldly go where few, if any, fast-food chains have gone before. “No Antibiotics Ever.” Yup.Chick-fil-A promised its sandwiches would be antibiotic free by 2019. Around that time pressure was building on the Food and Drug Administration to do something about Big Meat...
Early morning calls. Barren chicken barns. Millions in debt.
* Several Tyson Foods poultry growers said they were taken off guard when they were told their contracts were ending. Some had recently gone deeper into debt to upgrade their chicken barns to Tyson's specifications. * Because barns are designed for the specific needs of Tyson Foods, growers are struggling...
GRAPHIC: USDA has received almost 1,000 complaints about operations selling ‘organic’ products without certification in recent years
The “organic” label often hikes prices consumers pay at grocery stores, and more and more farms are trying to become organic certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But the increase in popularity can mean the agency has to, in its words, protect the “integrity of the USDA organic seal.”
Tyson Foods released 371 million pounds of pollution into U.S. waterways: report
Meat processing company Tyson Foods released at least 371.7 million pounds of pollution into U.S. waterways between 2018 and 2022, according to a report released this week from the Union of Concerned Scientists. It’s the first time Tyson’s individual impact on the environment has been examined in this way, said...
EPA in the Crosshairs
Michael Regan cannot catch a break from Louisianans. Last month, as Regan, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), tightened pollution controls in the state, he drew fire. Congressman Clay Higgins (R-La.), an industry proponent, said Regan was doing too much, calling Regan an “EPA criminal” in an April...
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