Data-driven journalism is at the core of Investigate Midwest’s mission. It fuels our reporting on corporate agriculture.
In addition to our deeply reported stories, a chart or graphic can go a long way in showing how an industrial farming operation is impacting a community, or the USDA enforcement trends between two presidential administrations.
As 2024 comes to a close, below are four data illustrations from the past year that shed more light on agribusiness across the nation.
Simple, yet striking
Sometimes a data illustration is most effective in its simplicity. This chart shows the sizable decrease in groundwater in Oklahoma’s panhandle region. The significant drop in the mid-1990s raised questions about the role a pork processing plant operated by Seaboard Foods was having on the region’s water supply.
The weight of debt
Investigate Midwest has done a lot of reporting on Tyson Foods plant closures and the impact it’s had on contract poultry farmers who were left with debt. This chart shows that in Missouri and Arkansas, two states with large Tyson Foods operations and recently closed plants, poultry farmer debt and liability well exceed the national average.
Who farms the Midwest?
The agriculture census from USDA offered more insights into the makeup of farms and farmers. Most farmers are white, male and older, especially in the Midwest. This illustration shows that only 2% of midwestern agriculture producers are nonwhite.
USDA fines in focus
With Donald Trump coming back to the White House, it’s likely USDA fines will decrease. This chart shows the amount of USDA fines during Trump’s first term, compared to the Obama and Biden administrations.
