After years of lawsuits against agrichemical companies and battles over environmental regulations, the nation’s highest court is expected to rule this summer on a case that could significantly alter the pesticide industry.
This story was originally published by Grist.
This story is made possible through a partnership between Grist and The Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on
Over the last 30 years, the area has increasingly become home to large-scale confined animal feeding operations, commonly called CAFOs, which keep large numbers of animals in tight conditions.
Following years of inaction on the Clean Water for Iowa Act, one Iowa lawmaker is looking to advance several smaller bills that would improve monitoring and strengthen permit requirements for large industrial farms.
Manure management planning could prevent fertilizer pollution. But an antiquated system isn’t doing enough to track manure, a former state employee says.
With dwindling oversight, cattle are grazing where they’re not supposed to and in greater numbers or for longer periods than permitted. This can spread invasive plants, pushing out native species and worsening wildfire risk.
The new rule, proposed Nov. 17, is the latest in a convoluted, decades-long fight over which streams and wetlands qualify as “Waters of the United States” and thus are regulated by the federal government under the Clean Water Act.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond is seeking more than $100 million from poultry companies over water pollution from chicken farm. Gov. Kevin Stitt, who passed a 2024 law shielding those same companies, has asked for more time to settle.
A recent report shows that the state’s farm-to-school grant program has been effective at supporting economically disadvantaged farmers in the face of mounting federal cuts.
