Anna Casey

Organic crops lucrative, challenging for U.S. farmers

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.

By Anna Casey

/ 30 May 2018

Organic crops lucrative, challenging for U.S. farmers

Report: U.S. Department of Agriculture can do more to keep pathogens out of meat and poultry supply

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

By Anna Casey

/ 18 Apr 2018

Report: U.S. Department of Agriculture can do more to keep pathogens out of meat and poultry supply

Tariff talk not a major concern for the regulars at "University of Sadorus"

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.

By Anna Casey

/ 16 Apr 2018

Tariff talk not a major concern for the regulars at "University of Sadorus"

Off-target: A community conversation about dicamba

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

By Anna Casey

/ 21 Feb 2018

Off-target: A community conversation about dicamba

Reporter’s notebook: What’s covered in the newly required dicamba training?

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.

By Anna Casey

/ 14 Feb 2018

Reporter’s notebook: What’s covered in the newly required dicamba training?

Join our community conversation about dicamba

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

By Anna Casey

/ 5 Feb 2018

Join our community conversation about dicamba

Pesticide buffer zones crop up in other states but none in Midwest

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

By Anna Casey

/ 17 Jan 2018

Pesticide buffer zones crop up in other states but none in Midwest

How did the soybean become such a common crop in the U.S.?

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

By Anna Casey

/ 22 Dec 2017

How did the soybean become such a common crop in the U.S.?

Report highlights fears among workers in the meat processing industry

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

By Anna Casey

/ 13 Dec 2017

Report highlights fears among workers in the meat processing industry

Report: FOIA requests to USDA checkoff programs rarely fulfilled

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.

By Anna Casey

/ 1 Nov 2017

Report: FOIA requests to USDA checkoff programs rarely fulfilled

Help us investigate the growing number of pesticide drift complaints

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

By Anna Casey

/ 9 Oct 2017

Long-time housing for migrant farmworkers closes

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

By Anna Casey

/ 6 Oct 2017

Organic crops lucrative, challenging for U.S. farmers

Report: U.S. Department of Agriculture can do more to keep pathogens out of meat and poultry supply

Tariff talk not a major concern for the regulars at "University of Sadorus"

Off-target: A community conversation about dicamba

Reporter’s notebook: What’s covered in the newly required dicamba training?

Join our community conversation about dicamba

Pesticide buffer zones crop up in other states but none in Midwest

How did the soybean become such a common crop in the U.S.?

Report highlights fears among workers in the meat processing industry

Report: FOIA requests to USDA checkoff programs rarely fulfilled

Help us investigate the growing number of pesticide drift complaints

Long-time housing for migrant farmworkers closes

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