Rural/Farming / Public News Service

Alan Bedtka is pictured in a stand of sorghum-sudangrass, which he was paid to plant to boost soil health and reduce his fertilizer use. (Photo courtesy of Alan Bedtka)

Monday, April 22, 2024

Can taller cover crops help clean the water in farm country?

By Brian DeVore for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News…

Workers harvest a field before the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. (Jeff Huth/Adobe Stock)

Annual farmworkers march supports WA tulip harvesters

An annual march for farmworkers' rights is being held Sunday in northwest Washington. This year, marchers are focusing on the conditions for local …

Fertilizer was responsible for 20% of a farmer's costs in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. (Adobe Stock)

FTC chair in Iowa to hear fertilizer antitrust concerns

The chair of the Federal Trade Commission will be in rural Iowa this weekend to hear from farmers and other residents about the proposed sale of Iowa …

The 1922 Colorado River Compact gives priority to Lower Basin states: Arizona, California and Nevada, for rights to Colorado River Water. (Adobe Stock)

Study: 90% of CO River irrigation water goes to cattle

As Colorado and other states grapple with shrinking Colorado River water levels, new research pinpoints how much water is being diverted for cattle …

By 2031, good jobs accessible to people with only a high school education will represent just 6% of all jobs. (bodnarphoto/Adobe Stock)

TX leaders work to improve job opportunities for rural students

Work is being done in rural areas across Texas to make sure students are prepared for the workforce even if they intend to stay put after graduation…

The Double Up Food Bucks program matches purchases up to $20. (Lindsay Trapnell/Oregon Food Bank)

Summer food benefits for kids amplified through Double Up produce program

Oregon is participating in a federal food benefits program for children, called Summer EBT. Dollars from the program will go even farther to …

Most of the USDA produce samples tested in this year's Dirty Dozen list from the Environmental Working Group were within the legal allowance for chemical pesticide residue. (Adobe Stock)

Strawberries top Dirty Dozen list of produce packed with pesticides

Nonorganic fruits and vegetables are loaded with chemical pesticides, including fungicides which can harm male reproductive systems, according to the …

Report: 90% of CO River irrigation water used to feed cattle

As Wyoming and other states grapple with shrinking Colorado River water levels - new research pinpoints how much water is being diverted to feed cattl…

Farmers can combine renewable energy, such as solar panels, with crops on their property, a process known as agrivoltaics, to maximize the revenues from their farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Solar leases help NC farm owners up revenues, keep homestead

By Daniel Walton for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for North Carolina News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Pu…

Atrazine was the most widely used pesticide in Iowa, and applied to 69% of the state's planted acres. (Adobe Stock)

Common produce in IA tops 'Dirty Dozen' pesticide list

The Environmental Working Group has released a new list of produce items most and least affected by pesticides in Iowa and across the country…

Only two humans in the U.S. have been infected with avian flu in the United States. A case in Texas this month is the first time it has been linked to exposure to cattle. (syhin_stas/Adobe Stock)

Texas officials address human avian flu case

The cattle industry and health officials in Texas are on alert after a person contracted avian flu while working around infected cattle in the Texas P…

The Environmental Working Group said multiple studies indicate pesticide levels in the body drop when people adopt an all-organic diet. (Adobe Stock/AI)

Report: 75% of conventionally grown produce has pesticide residue

Marylanders shopping for fresh produce may want to consider a new report that finds chemical residues in much of the crop. In its 2024 "Shoppers …

Downtown Winnebago is in northeast Nebraska's Thurston County. The Ho-Chunk Village housing development can be seen in the background. (Photo courtesy HCCDC)

Winnebago Tribe's development corp earns top rating, $2 million grant

The Nebraska Winnebago Tribe's Ho-Chunk Community Development Corporation, or HCCDC, has been awarded $2 million through MacKenzie Scott's Yield …

Financial pressures, lack of mental health resources in rural areas and a stigma about using them all contribute to a suicide rate among farmers that is triple the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association. (primipil/Adobe Stock)

TX works to address wildfire survivors' mental health

Residents in the Texas Panhandle are starting to put their lives back together after surviving the largest wildfire in the state's history. The …

The Colorado Local Food Program Guidebook can help farmers, ranchers, school districts and parents connect with resources available through organizations supporting the Healthy School Meals for All initiative, state agencies, and U-S-D-A Food and Nutrition Services. (Adobe Stock)

New guidebook aims to help local farmers and schools serve healthy meals

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Farmers apply fertilizer, including nitrogen, before spring planting so the seed and the growing plant have nutrients available throughout the season. (Adobe Stock)

Program for farmers lowers the risk of reducing nitrogen application

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

About one-quarter of Maine farmworkers live in poverty, and they are roughly 4.5 times as likely to live below the poverty line as other workers in the state, according to the Maine Center for Economic Policy. (Adobe Stock)

Effort continues to ensure state minimum wage for ME farmworkers

Legislation proposed by Maine Gov. Janet Mills would ensure thousands of farmworkers are eligible to receive the state minimum wage. Current law …

The National Family Farm Coalition says the use of dicamba and other herbicides has been estimated to quadruple with the planting of new herbicide-resistant seeds, resulting in more toxins in the environment and in foods eaten by livestock, wildlife and humans. (Adobe Stock)

Pesticide-drift concerns still hang over ag industry

Pesticides are still common in agriculture. Organic producers who avoid them have seen ups and downs in pushing for stronger regulations, and they …

According to the Montana Farmers Union, data is often harvested by third parties through precision ag tools, without a farmer's knowledge. (Adobe Stock)

Montana farmers want ag data protection

Montana farmers have testified before a panel of state lawmakers asking them to protect agricultural data that is collected by precision farming techn…

Cover crops and other regenerative practices prevent erosion, improve soil health and can absorb harmful carbon from the atmosphere and

Experienced NE farmer talks cattle, cover crops and regenerative agriculture

One of the goals included in Nebraska's Department of Environment and Energy's Priority Climate Action Plan recently submitted to the federal Environm…

The American Biogas Council says there are more than 2,300 sites producing biogas across all 50 states. Of these, 332 anaerobic digesters are on farms and process agricultural waste into forms of cleaner fuel. (Adobe Stock)

CA emission credits not well received by Midwest farm advocates

Community and conservation groups in the Midwest worry that a change in California's carbon emissions policy could hurt the quality of life in the nat…

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Indiana farmland off limits to 'foreign adversaries'

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

The USDA is finalizing a series of rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act as part of President Biden's Executive Order on Promoting Competition in America's economy.

USDA rule could level playing field for livestock producers

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…

It's estimated that more than 1 million immigrants live in Georgia. (Adobe Stock)

GA advocates rally against legislation aimed at immigrants

Advocates for immigrants gathered at the Georgia State Capitol this week, urging lawmakers to stop legislation they see as potentially harmful…

North Carolina has more than 46,000 farms, and Black farmers run around 1,500 of them. (Adobe Stock)

'Farm and Faith' partnerships combat food injustices, racial land loss in NC

The Rural Advancement Foundation International is taking action against food injustices impacting farmers of color and rural communities through its F…

Raging wildfires damaged more than 1 million acres of land in the Texas Panhandle. (yelantsevv/Adobe Stock)

TX legislative committee to investigate Panhandle wildfires

Several members of the Texas Legislature have been appointed to a committee to investigate wildfires that ravaged the Texas Panhandle and parts of Okl…

A proposal before the California Air Resources Board would allow fossil fuel producers in California to buy credits from factory farms that use anaerobic digesters like these to extract methane from animal waste. (Rob Thomas/Adobe Stock)

Midwest community activists slam proposed CA emissions incentives

Community groups in the Midwest are worried a change in California carbon emissions policy could hurt quality of life in the nation's heartland…

The Environmental Protection Agency finds neonicotinoids could jeopardize more than 200 plants and animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. (Adobe Stock)

CT lawmakers water down bill addressing toxic pesticides

A Connecticut bill would have restricted toxic pesticides called neonicotinoids - or so it seemed. The bill's newest iteration, some experts feel…

Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, the founder of the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance and co-founder of Tree-Range Farms. These entities have created an

Midwest network of regenerative farmers is rethinking chicken

By Twilight Greenaway for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Publi…

Biodigester plants have become a popular option in using government incentives to help reduce livestock emissions but skeptics contended they will create more environmental problems by spurring more factory farms. (Adobe Stock)

California emissions credits clash with SD CAFO concerns

New forms of renewable energy are emerging within the agricultural sector but a California initiative, which has connections to states like South …

Smithfield Foods spilled more than 7.3 million gallons of hog waste throughout Missouri according to a public records search by The Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. (Alberto/Adobe Stock)

A California regulation with big Midwest consequences

Family farm advocates in Missouri are concerned a regulation on the other side of the country could have unintended effects on rural Missourians…

Water flows through part of Dos Rios Ranch Preserve. The former farmland now acts as a storage area for floodwaters during wet years. (Cameron Nielsen/Grist)

How can California solve its water woes? By flooding its best farmland

By Jake Bittle for Grist.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Grist-Public News Service Collaboration Th…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates up to 15 million acres of soybeans have been damaged by dicamba drifting beyond where it was applied. (Adobe Stock)

Court bans popular but controversial pesticide

A federal court has banned the use of a highly controversial but popular pesticide in the Midwest. Advocates for sustainable agriculture said the …

The USDA's Agricultural Census helps track New Hampshire's iconic maple and honey farms. An average of 160,000 gallons of maple syrup is produced each year in the Granite State while area beekeepers raise bees for honey and to provide important crop-pollination services for other farmers. (Adobe Stock)

Ag census reveals major boost in New England farm-production value

New agricultural census data show a significant increase in production value for New England farms over the past five years. There are nearly 31,000 …

Environmental groups recently sued the Montana Department of Environmental Quality over its CAFO water pollution permit. (Adobe Stock)

Farm group calls on changes to USDA environmental funding

A farm advocacy group says large corporate agriculture producers are getting federal environmental safeguard funds that were intended for smaller oper…

California could buy tax credits from large-scale livestock producers in Iowa to offset California diesel emissions. The new regulations rate Iowa's livestock operations 'cleaner' than diesel. (Adobe Stock)

Iowa CAFOs could cash in on California emissions credits

Iowa factory farms could cash in on new proposed carbon emissions tax-credit rules in California. The new emissions standards would allow …

Four large corporations control 85% of the U.S. beef market, up from 25% in 1977. (Courtesy Carruth Cattle)

New Mexico panelists tackle food, farming and fairness

Food, farming and fairness will be the topics in Albuquerque this week, at a gathering of those who support the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming …

Missouri's Senate Bill 1314, similar to House Bill 2365, prohibits funds from being expended by any state department for interdepartmental programs, staffing or other initiatives associated with

New report reveals high economic risk of anti-DEI laws in Missouri

A new report finds some Missouri laws and prospective laws are perceived as discriminatory regardless of their actual intent - and it outlines some bi…

Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer, a farmer in northern Indiana, says the United States has 1.3 billion acres of farmland but 40 million acres is owned by foreign countries. (Adobe stock)

Proposed IN law prohibits US adversaries from buying farmland

Legislation aimed at stopping U.S. adversaries from owning farmland in Indiana will be argued before the full state Senate today. Rep. Kendell Culp…

Colorado's share of Healthy School Meals for All, approved by voters in 2022, was meant to be paid for by Coloradans who earn $300,000 or more per year. (Adobe Stock)

Healthy School Meals for All program faces $24 million budget gap

Colorado lawmakers are considering ways to address a projected $24 million funding shortfall in the Healthy School Meals for All program, and grants …

The Wildlife Disease Surveillance for Pandemic Prevention Act seeks to create a Wildlife Disease Surveillance Program though the Wildlife Health Office at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Adobe Stock)

Wildlife disease measure could benefit IA ag industry

Wildlife advocates are asking Congress to pass bill that would help states track diseases killing wildlife across the country. In Iowa, the measure …

Many school lunch programs are introducing more non-meat, non-dairy meals to normalize a healthier, more climate-friendly plant-based diet. (CivilEats)

California leads way in low-carbon school meals

By Naoki Nitta for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public Ne…

The American Biogas Council says across the U.S., more than 2,300 digester sites are producing biogas. (Adobe Stock)

Digesters: Helpful in reducing farm emissions?

Wisconsin is part of a movement to reduce livestock emissions by converting manure into energy sources, and there are calls to weave in a careful …

According to the new Census of Agriculture, the total number of farms with more than $1 million in sales has gone up by 36 percent. Advocates said such growth squeezes out smaller producers. (Adobe Stock)

New data illustrates decline of thriving farm communities

The nation has seen its total number of farmers and farmland decrease over the past five years and advocates for smaller producers in South Dakota sai…

Since the most recent avian influenza outbreak began, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates almost 82 million birds have been affected in 47 states. (Anton Dios/Adobe Stock)

Avian flu outbreak highlights need for improved wildlife disease tracking

In the wake of the latest, highly contagious bird flu outbreak in Arkansas and across the country, Congress is considering a bill to improve the …

Practical Farmers of Iowa now has a full-time Spanish Engagement Outreach Coordinator to assist the growing number of Latino farmers in the state. (Adobe Stock)

High demand prompts IA farm group to increase Spanish-speaking services

A rural advocacy group has invested in reaching out to Spanish-speaking farmers in Iowa - a population that has grown dramatically. There has been …

A University of New Hampshire study showed annual rainfall, which has increased more than eight inches since 1901, is expected to increase another 7% to 9% by the middle of the century. Scientists say most of this increase will arrive in heavy precipitation events, increasing the risk of flooding and significantly affecting agriculture. (Adobe Stock)

Farm relief funds in NH would counter climate change-related crop damage

Two proposed relief funds for New Hampshire farmers aim to recover losses from climate change-related weather events. Years of droughts were …

Agricultural officials saod bringing broadband connections to rural Illinois countries could provide farmers with data that could increase both crop yields and annual profits. (Wikimedia Commons)

New tool gauges economic effects of expanded broadband in rural IL

By Will Wright for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Illinois News Connection reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Servi…

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Rural/Farming