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Investigate Midwest

News & Issues

Early Morning Calls. Barren Chicken Barns. Millions in Debt.

Tyson Foods says recent plant closures ‘drove out waste from the business.’ Contract chicken farmers are now stuck with uncertainty and massive loans.

by John McCracken, Investigate Midwest

News & Issues

Droughts, Climate Change, Drive US Beef Herd to Historic Low

In major cattle states, ranchers have been coping with intense precipitation events, followed by long stretches with no rain.

by John McCracken, Investigate Midwest

News & Issues

Poor Regulatory Safeguards Leave Farmworkers Suffocating in the Face of Increasing Heat Waves

A fifth of reported heat-related deaths between 2017 and 2022 were agricultural workers, according to OSHA data.

by Multiple Reporters

News & Issues

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.

by Adam Goldstein, Columbia Missourian

News & Issues

Foreign Investment in US Cropland Nearly Triples in Past Decade, USDA Data Shows

Growing foreign investment has spurred legislative action in states and Congress

by Jonathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest

News & Issues

Opening This Spring in Kansas: A High-Tech Lab Researching Livestock Diseases

At the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, researchers will try to find cures for and ways to prevent highly contagious diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, affecting livestock and humans.

by Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest

News & Issues

American Farm Bureau Federation Claims it’s the ‘Voice of Agriculture.’ Others Beg to Differ

While the best-known, best-funded "voice" of farmers, the American Farm Bureau is far from the only one.

by Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest

News & Issues

Fertilizer Washes off Midwest Farm Fields and Taints Communities’ Drinking Water, Poisons Gulf of Mexico

As Rainfall Events Become More Intense and Frequent, Fertilizers Applied to Midwestern Farmland Wash Away, Contaminating Waterways Near and Far

by Ignacio Calderon

News & Issues

As Regulations Vanish, One Missouri County is Ground Zero for Factory Farming Debate

The state eliminated local control over large animal feeding operations. Some rural residents want that power back.

by Mallory Daily, for the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

News & Issues

‘Buy it or else’: Inside Monsanto and BASF’s Moves to Force Dicamba on Farmers

Internal company records show the companies knew crop damage from their weed killer would be extensive. They sold it anyway.

by Johnathan Hettinger

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