Agriculture

Farmers in the Midwest are gearing up for a fight over whether pipelines can cut through their land. Many look to the experience other farmers had with the Dakota Access Pipeline a few years ago.

Preserving mental health through farming challenges is a real concern; one study shows farmers die by suicide at a higher rate than other professions.

The perennial grain can produce an annual crop even as it stays in the ground for up to four years. Its deep root system helps pull carbon out of the air and makes it more resistant to floods and drought.

Two Illinois farmers set out to improve soil health in the Midwest. The program they founded also has a myriad of climate benefits.

Looking for ways to fund lobbying and legal efforts to preserve their way of business, pork producers are turning down guaranteed money that could go to advertising in hopes it will lead to voluntary donations of unrestricted funds.

There’s a glaring disparity issue in industrial hemp production — just 6% of producers are Black. A couple in Missouri hopes to create the state’s first Black-owned hemp processing site.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week reversed a restriction put in place in January that was intended to help the endangered American burying beetle. The agency now says the Enlist brand of weed killer doesn’t pose a risk.

Some farmers and environmentalists say the federal program, which is heavily subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, discourages growers from adapting to climate change and should be redesigned.

Russia is a big exporter of fertilizer and its raw ingredients, and without them on the market, Midwestern farmers are reeling.

Midwestern lakes have become a hotbed of toxic algae blooms, largely caused by agricultural runoff. Without regular testing, visitors to lakes in many states have no idea what they're getting into.