Why It’s Hard To Help Children Through Mental Health Challenges In Rural Communities
While local 4-H groups are known for summer programming, educator Julie Kreikemeier works with hundreds of students year-round across Colfax and Cuming…
A New Law Allows More Farmers To Qualify For Bankruptcy, And Some Are Thinking About It
It’s a difficult year for many farmers in the United States. A wet spring flooded crops and delayed planting across the Midwest, while trade conflicts…
Reporter’s Notebook: Knowing What’s In The Heart(land)
Reporting any story means having to learn more about myself, what I care about and what I want to do next. For example, I once talked with John Gruidl of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. He said a lot of younger folks now choose a place to live before they choose a job, and…
The Corn Belt’s Traditional Summer Job Of Detasseling Delayed By Weather
Every summer, thousands of Midwestern kids as young as 13 load onto school buses early in the morning to do one of the hottest, dirtiest temporary jobs…
Hemp And The Challenges Of Farming’s Frontier
There’s millions of dollars to be made from growing hemp, which for years was lumped in and vilified with its sister plant, marijuana. With the…
Durbin Regrets Voting To Take Pell Grants Away From Prisoners
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is cosponsoring legislation that would rollback one of the provisions of the 1994 crime bill. It’s called the Restoring…
Food Hubs Connect Small Farmers To Communities In Need Of Produce
Between the growing warehouse district and the south side of Peoria, Illinois, sits 1312 SW Adams Street. The city-owned building looks like a great…
Use Of Controversial Weed Killer Glyphosate Skyrockets On Midwest Fields
Farmers have been using the weed killer glyphosate – a key ingredient of the product Roundup – at soaring levels even as glyphosate has become…
One Person’s Trash Fish Is Another Town’s Treasured Delicacy
Summer festivals are ubiquitous (especially across the Midwest), and often highlight the local food specialty, be it corn, apples or beef. But when the…
Illinois Farmers Delay Planting Crops Amid Wet Weather, Low Crop Prices And Trade Uncertainty
Floodwaters on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers may be going down, but rain has continued to soak farmland around much of the state. More rain could…
It’s Planting Season, Except For Farmers Affected By Major Flooding
The Missouri River swamped Scott Olson’s land in March — the second time in the last eight years. Flooding tore holes in his fields and left mounds of…
Silicon Valley Startup Aims For Transparency, One Seed Price At A Time
A Silicon Valley startup is pitting itself against major seed companies, alleging that those companies are price gouging in the Heartland. Farmers…
Farmers Dig Deep To Weather Slumping Ag Economy, But Don’t Call It A Crisis
Farm income has taken a long, hard fall, dropping 50 percent since hitting a high point in 2013. Add to that near-record levels of farm debt, and you…
How Ag Programs Fare Under Trump’s Proposed Budget For 2020
President Donald Trump’s 2020 budget proposal is getting a lot of attention for its call for more border protection, but it also makes major changes to…
Can Hacking Plants Feed the World? The Research Looks Good
Plants are good at what they do — turning sunlight into food. However, some researchers have found the leaf world could improve, and that could have a…