Despite the chatter and hustle of a dozen or so workers, the production line at Flamm Orchards in deep southern Illinois sits mostly quiet this summer. A cold spell in late December knocked out a vast majority of the 300-acre farm’s peach crop. “To have a loss as bad as we’ve had this year, it’s…
The 102nd edition of the Dairy Building’s crown jewel features a butter model of Schultz ready to milk one of her 60 head at Mil-R-Mor Farm.
A group of Midwestern shrimp farmers are on a mission to provide Americans with better-tasting, sustainable shrimp. The industry struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but farmers remain hopeful that indoor shrimp farming will come back stronger than ever. Triple J Farms in Foristell, Missouri, looks like a typical Midwestern farm — a red barn sits…
When farm life causes stress, young people feel it along with the adults. That correlation was noted in a survey of farm families, conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois and the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin.
The EPA has completed less than 5% of its Endangered Species Act caseload in reviewing pesticides. Now the agency is proposing a new strategy for scrutinizing agricultural chemicals’ effects on listed species.
A crane looms above a dusty field just outside of North Platte, Nebraska, where trucks loaded with dirt criss-cross the busy site and workers set up a foundation. Two years ago, an old sewer lagoon took up this stretch of land. Cattails and marshy soil made the field a swampy mess. Today, it’s the…
This year’s particularly dry spring drove a large part of the Midwest, including Missouri and Illinois, into drought. The lack of moisture has far-reaching implications, including on agricultural production and water levels on the country’s largest rivers. “Rain is essential—it is where drought starts and ends,” said Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford. “As we were…
URBANA – Cattle, sheep and swine are being shown off in agricultural competitions this week at the Champaign County Fair in Urbana. But this past weekend belonged to the horses, with three different horse shows on the schedule. The horse show on the fair opening day (Friday, July 21) was organized by 4-H, and featured…
The state’s largest industry can’t ignore global warming — but change can be slow and expensive. Here’s what farmers say is tipping the scales for them now.
Dryness in the Great Plains began spreading east this year, affecting much of the Midwest and endangering crops, livestock and river shipping. Recent rains have been a god-send, but will it be enough to loosen the years-long drought? Around the end of June, Ryan Krenk didn’t want to even look at his corn fields. Deep…
Elderberries are native to the Midwest, but the commercial cultivation of the crop is relatively recent, and saw a big increase during the coronavirus pandemic. That has the burgeoning industry wondering if its future is as a small, niche crop or something bigger.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave two companies the green light last month to produce and sell their cultivated chicken meat across the country. But it could still take years before people can buy the new meat at grocery stores.
Farmers can apply for emergency loans after tornadoes and drought last spring.
Driving along the Rock River, Mitch Leatherbie, a street superintendent for the city of Rockford, Illinois, spots a pair of trees he considers survivors. “There’s two ash trees, right, they’re still standing,” said Leatherbie. “… Those were just a couple of them that we kept.” In the early 2000s, Rockford lost approximately 5,000 ash trees…
Kansas wheat farmers will reap the smallest harvest in more than 60 years. Persistent drought withered much of the crop. SYLVAN GROVE, Kansas — Kansas is “the wheat state,” the officially adopted moniker that embraces its place as the country’s breadbasket. Tall white grain elevators, some decorated with wheat murals, loom over tiny farm towns….