Despite a steady increase in demand for organic products among consumers, U.S. crop growers have been reluctant to make the switch from conventional crops, even if it could mean higher profits for farmers struggling with low commodity prices.
A new report released today from a congressional watchdog agency says the U.S. Department of Agriculture can do more to keep foodborne illness-causing pathogens out of meat and
The recent discussion of tariffs and a potential trade war between the U.S. and China wasn’t a major concern for a group of farmers who regularly gather at their local grain elevator, the first stop for corn and soybeans before the crops enter market channels around the world.
Join us for a panel discussion featuring weed scientists, industry leaders and community members as we delve into the issues that arose with dicamba. There will be time after the moderated panel for an audience Q & A session. The event is free but RSVP required. Light refreshments will be served. We
More than 5,400 pesticide applicators and farmers have attended free trainings on spraying the herbicide dicamba throughout Illinois. Here's what reporter Anna Casey learned while attending one of them.
For farming communities in the Midwest, the herbicide dicamba did more than damage crops – it created tensions between friends and neighbors and raised questions about how state officials and makers of dicamba - Monsanto and BASF - responded to the problem. Join us for a panel discussion featuring w
Hundreds of rural schools in Midwest states nestle against fields of corn and soybeans that are routinely sprayed with pesticides that could drift onto school grounds. Health experts say those pesticides might pose risks to children, and nine states in other regions of the country have been concerne
This story was inspired by a question submitted at a Listening Post the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting held in August. Stuart Levy in Urbana, Illinois, asked us what would be needed for row crop farmers to switch from corn and soybeans to “something more sustainable.” We dug into that qu
Repetitive motion injuries, amputations and cuts continue to be common dangers that workers in the meat processing industry face, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this month.
The
The USDA’s marketing arm completely fulfills only one in five Freedom of Information Act requests, according to a new report from a government watchdog group.
The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting found that the number of alleged pesticide misuse complaints in Illinois this year is already more than the previous three years combined.
States across
Since 2001, the former hospital on Nightingale Court in Rantoul, Ilinois housed as many as 450 migrant farmworkers and their families to work in the fields in central Illinois. But this year, its owner - Unique Storage Inc. - did not submit a migrant labor camp application for the site, known as Nig
