Agriculture
Here’s How This Year’s Drought has Battered the Midwest — and What it Might Mean for Next Year
From deadly wildfires to choking dust storms to decimated crop harvests, this year’s drought has left its mark across the country. For the hardest hit areas, such as the Great Plains, recovering from the far-reaching impacts of this historically dry year won’t be easy.
Lunch Tray Education and Local Economics
Missouri’s Farm to School program allows producers big and small to partner with local schools. It helps the farmer have a reliable buyer, and it helps schools to provide fresh, local produce to students.
Best in the US: Overland Park Farmers Market Tops List
The Overland Park Farmers Market has been named “America’s Favorite Market” in a contest sponsored by the American Farmland Trust and the Farmers Market Coalition.
How the Drought Killing Kansas Corn Crops Could Make You Pay More for Gas and Beef
Drought is taking its toll on western Kansas cornfields this year. And all that dead corn could mean higher prices for ethanol-infused gasoline and corn-fed beef.
With Corn Belt Inching North, Farm Diversification Gains Momentum
Climate change is redrawing the agricultural map of the United States. As corn becomes less economically viable with changing Midwestern weather patterns, farmers look to a more diverse future.
Precision Mazes Offer More Than ‘Simply a Walk In the Corn’
How one Kansas City family uses farm science to create meaningful corn mazes and crop art across North America.
Sound, Smoke and Fury: The Enduring Allure of the American Tractor Pull
The loud, showy sport of tractor pulling remains a popular pastime in rural Missouri.
Western Kansas Wheat Crops are Failing Just When the World Needs Them Most
Russia’s war in Ukraine has disrupted global food supplies, driving up demand and prices for wheat. But after months of drought, many western Kansas farmers won’t have a crop to sell.
Focus on Food Fermentation at Fair Share Farm
Instead of heat, farmers Tom Ruggieri and Rebecca Graff rely on fermentation to transform their organic vegetables into handcrafted jars of sauerkraut, jalapeños, kimchi, beet relish, pickles and hot sauce.
Foreign Investment in US Cropland Nearly Triples in Past Decade, USDA Data Shows
Foreign investment in U.S. cropland has nearly tripled in the past decade, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.