The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as "SNAP," takes up about 80 percent of the 2014 Farm Bill, a chunk worth between $70 and $80 billion a year. While the program helps provide groceries to tens of millions of Americans, a recent report found that the program may be s
The Illinois Soybean Association is among several industries to oppose tighter regulations of pesticide protections for farm workers. The group – which represents 45,000 soybean producers in the state – filed a letter last week as part of a public comment period on proposed updates to the Agricultur
During the 2013 planting season, U.S. farmers had nearly two dozen different crop insurance policies to sort through when deciding how to best protect themselves from losses caused by bad weather, price drops and other perils. A Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting analysis revealed that two o
Ten years ago, U.S. farmers who chose to insure their crops from weather disasters and market fluctuations received a combined total of about $3.2 billion in insurance payouts in a year. Those payouts have steadily increased by billions of dollars since then, leaving some skeptics arguing that the i
It took two years for the U.S. Congress to come together and pass the Agricultural Act of 2014, a piece of legislation known simply as "the Farm Bill." During that period of heated discussion, at least 80 groups spent millions of dollars lobbying on topics that included the Farm Bill and crop insura
The massive Farm Bill, which will spend $956 billion and set U.S. food policy for the next decade, is no longer the purview solely of agricultural interests. The Farm Bill has evolved from a spotlight on commodities to a focus on consumers, a joint investigation by Harvest Public Media and the Midwe
From major financial institutions (Wells Fargo & Company) to Taco Bell (Yum! Brands) to Midwest farmers (the National Corn Growers Association), outside groups spent big bucks to shape national food and agriculture policy. But thanks to opaque lobbying disclosure laws, it’s nearly impossible to know
Experts predict that the agriculture industry may soon account for roughly half of all drone flights in the United States. As part of that trend, farmers from across the country gathered in central Illinois this week for the Precision Aerial Ag Show, a showcase of unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise
The agriculture industry will soon face more frequent extreme weather and more tenacious pests, according to a White House assessment released earlier this month. If farmers cannot overcome these challenges, then U.S. crop and farm profits will decline, the assessment warned.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported an estimated $6.2 billion in improper payments in 2013, according to an Office of Inspector General’s April report. The report's findings come after a previous Office of Inspector General report concluded that the USDA overpaid farmers by hundreds of milli
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release the 2012 Census of Agriculture on Friday with more specific data by state and county and by agriculture product. The National Agricultural Statistics Service released a partial report in February. The full 2012 Census of Agriculture will also incl
State legislators throughout the country are passing laws aimed to protect farmers from individuals who use hidden cameras to record images without consent. Recently, Idaho became the first state to have both a modern-day farm protection law and an agriculture disparagement, or “veggie libel,” law.
