Investigate Midwest (Page 281)

Crop yields may curb insurance payments to Midwest farmers

Crop yields will be double compared to last year's yields, according to some estimations. Yet an increase in yields means a decrease in crop insurance payouts. And when the price of some crops has plummeted that means farmers might see their income dropping, as well.

By Robert Holly

/ 16 Oct 2013

Crop yields may curb insurance payments to Midwest farmers

Pulitzer Prize-winning ISU Faculty Member and Founding Staff Member Join IowaWatch Board

A Pulitzer Prize winning member of the Iowa State University’s Greenlee School of Journalism and a student who was at the founding of the Iowa Center for Public Affairs

By IowaWatch

/ 15 Oct 2013

Pulitzer Prize-winning ISU Faculty Member and Founding Staff Member Join IowaWatch Board

Salmonella strain prompts chicken recall

Costco wholesale stores have joined grocery chain Kroger Co. in recalling Foster Farms’ chicken products from its shelves. The recall involves nearly 40,000 pounds of chicken sold on the west coast that has been linked to a 20-state outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg contamination. So far, the outbre

By Sam Robinson/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

/ 15 Oct 2013

Salmonella strain prompts chicken recall

Expected bumper crop has price of corn dropping

Corn farmers have seen high prices of corn in the last few years, as prices have reached nearly $8 per bushel in some places. This year though, experts predict that corn prices will drop considerably.

By Amy Mayer/Harvest Public Media

/ 15 Oct 2013

Expected bumper crop has price of corn dropping

Farmers plowing up more and more of the prairie

In recent years, farmers in the Midwest have transformed millions of acres of prairie grass to rows of corn. High crop prices are a big motivation, but some also believe crop insurance is encouraging farmers to roll the dice on less productive land.

By Grant Gerlock/Harvest Public Media

/ 15 Oct 2013

Farmers plowing up more and more of the prairie

Blacks, Latinos Struggle To Raise Homeownership Rates in Iowa

Home ownership is taken for granted as the default standard of living for many Iowans. But black and Latino homeownership rates have dropped since 1960, an analysis of census data shows. The reasons are explored in the conclusion of the series, "Iowa's Opportunity Gap," an IowaWatch collaboration wi

By By Stephen Gruber-Miller/IowaWatch, Gregg Hennigan/The Gazette, and Joe Sutter/Fort Dodge Messenger

/ 13 Oct 2013

Blacks, Latinos Struggle To Raise Homeownership Rates in Iowa

Podcast: Iowa's Opportunity Gap Project Featured In WMT Radio Interview

WMT radio’s Bob Bruce hosted IowaWatch Executive Director-Editor Lyle Muller on Bruce’s show on Thursday, Oct. 10, to talk about two topics: the federal government shut-down

By IowaWatch

/ 11 Oct 2013

Moves In Iowa Are Aimed At Reducing The State's Black Imprisonment Rate

Dave Selmon says there is no right way to do wrong. “It will catch up with you sooner or later,” the 56-year-old Burlington man said, tapping a lifetime

By By Stephen Gruber-Miller/IowaWatch and Jermaine Pigee/The Hawk Eye (Burlington)

/ 6 Oct 2013

Moves In Iowa Are Aimed At Reducing The State's Black Imprisonment Rate

Freedom Of Information Council Exec and State Senate President Named Free Press Champions

Kathleen Richardson and state Sen. Pam Jochum were selected as the first recipients of awards given by the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism – IowaWatch to Iowans who have promoted the importance of a free press and open government.

By Joy Chang

/ 4 Oct 2013

Freedom Of Information Council Exec and State Senate President Named Free Press Champions

FDA halts food inspections

Because of the government shutdown, the Food and Drug Administration sent thousands of its workers home on furloughs. As a result, routine food inspections and imported food inspections have stopped.

By Robert Holly

/ 2 Oct 2013

Farmers not yet hit by shutdown

On Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013, dozens of U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies were closed or limited because of the federal government shutdown. However, agriculture officials said farmers won't be affected by the shutdown just yet.

By Robert Holly

/ 1 Oct 2013

Government Shutdown Sends Ag Department Workers Home

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was forced to send home tens of thousands of employees because of Tuesday’s government shutdown. As a result, the agriculture department and its

By Robert Holly/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

/ 1 Oct 2013

Government Shutdown Sends Ag Department Workers Home