Agriculture
Going whole hog toward sustainability?
Roeslein Alternative Energy and Smithfield Foods aim to convert hog manure into a stream of clean energy.
What’s eating you about energy and food production?
As part of the “Feasting on Fuel” reporting series, we’d like to know what questions you have about food and energy.
Cheaper, Easier Monitoring Could Hasten Water Clean-up
Throughout the cropland of the Midwest, farmers use chemicals on their fields to nourish the plants and the soil. But excess nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients can wash off the fields and into streams, rivers and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. New tools can help farmers monitor their soil and water so they can become…
Forget the robots, meat processing is still a human’s job
Slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants throughout the country employ a lot of people. About a quarter of a million workers in the U.S. stun, kill and eviscerate the animals we eat. Most of those jobs are physically demanding and require few skills. So why haven’t we started using more robots to cut up our beef? The…
My Farm Roots: Learning the ropes
Kendra Lawson doesn’t have the typical schedule of a nine–year-old. With just a week of summer left, she spent her days working with her dad and mom on the farm and preparing her pigs to show at the state fair. Here in central Missouri, the Lawson family raises cattle and pigs with a lot of…
My Farm Roots: Farm Kid Without a Farm
In the Midwest, agriculture can be such a strong lure that there are some farm kids without farms. Ally Babcock lives with her family in a modern subdivision in Ames, Iowa. Tucked under the home’s back deck is a tiny barn space, enough room for her sheep and rabbits. “It’s a little difficult [not living…
Turning from the tap
Natalie Horton doesn’t drink the tap water in Hiawatha. Neither does her 2-year-old son Silas. She already thought the water smelled and tasted funny. About a year ago, she read a Facebook post from a friend that said the water in Hiawatha wasn’t safe to drink. “I heard we had nitrates in our water, so now I buy…
The science behind farm herbicides and cancer
Farmers count on chemical herbicides to keep their fields weed-free. But an international panel of scientists who studied two of the most heavily used farm chemicals to determine whether they could cause cancer, said exposure to weed-killing chemicals could come at a cost. In the last few months, scientists brought together by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or IARC, considered glyphosate and 2,4-D.
Farm groups criticize ethanol policy changes at EPA hearing
Thursday was not the day to switch places with Chris Grundler. Grundler, the director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was in charge of the EPA’s one in-person hearing about proposed changes to U.S. ethanol policy. More than 250 people signed up to speak at the hearing,…
Why ‘Going Local’ is a challenge for chefs and farmers
It’s no longer enough for a restaurant to offer roasted chicken or braised beef shank on their menu. They need to be able to tell customers exactly where that chicken came from and how the cow was raised. If they can remember the pedigree of the produce? All the better. But serving locally-sourced food is a challenge for chefs, and the farmer-foodie connections aren’t always easy to come by.