Composting businesses are sprouting across the Midwest — but many cities are unprepared
Food waste takes up space in landfills and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Composting that waste can reduce climate impacts and save municipalities money on landfill fees, but concerns about bad smells and pests sometimes get in the way. In the middle of an urban farm, tucked behind houses […]
Fish in Illinois lakes & streams will no longer be tested for DDT
Illinois is joining a growing list of states that will no longer test fish in lakes and rivers for DDT and other related pesticides. Illinois began testing fish for organochlorine pesticides in the 1970s, a few years after the best-known one, DDT, was banned in the U-S. Up until the ban, the chemicals had been […]
Supporting Illinois’ Family Farms: A Community Discussion
Illinois Public Media hosted an advance screening of the film, “Greener Pastures” on September 15, 2023 at The Virginia Theatre with collaborator, The Land Connection. The film premieres on PBS stations March 25, 2024. Greener Pastures trailer: The post-film discussion has been edited for length and clarity. Kimberlie Kranich Good evening, everybody. Welcome. I’m Kimberlie […]
State Fair reports nine-year attendance high
Fair manager points to good weather, recent renovations.
Update: Archer Daniels Midland resumes corn processing at plant in Decatur after explosion injures 8 employees
An explosion and fire at an Archer Daniels Midland facility in Illinois has injured eight employees and sent a tower of smoke into the air.
Serving farm fresh food in schools is getting big federal support — but will ‘farm to school’ stick?
It’s a hot, buggy morning and Derrick Hoffman is poking around a densely packed row of bushy cherry tomato plants. Behind him, rows of peppers, eggplant, kale and broccoli are still soaking up the sun, while just a few country roads away, bok choy and butter lettuce sprout under hoop house protection. But in the […]
Once again, Piatt County considers an application for a wind farm
Zoning hearings are underway in Piatt County on a new wind farm proposal, six months after the Piatt County Board rejected a similar proposal from the same company.
Midwest farmworkers struggle with extreme heat — and almost no regulatory safeguards
Juan Peña, 28, has worked in the fields since childhood, often exposing his body to extreme heat like the wave that hit the Midwest last week. The heat can cause such deep pain in his whole body that he just wants to lie down, he said, as his body tells him he can’t take another […]
A state program helps farmers donate the food they raise to food banks.
Now, farmers in Illinois can contribute some of the food they produce to food banks though a centralized donation program. This month, Governor J-B Pritzker signed HB2879, which turns a two-year, USDA-funded Farm to Food Bank pilot program into a permanent, state-funded operation.
Piatt County to start wind farm zoning hearings on August 28.
The Piatt County Zoning Board has scheduled its first hearing on a new wind farm proposal from Apex Clean Energy for Monday, August 28 at the Monticello Community Center.
Peaches are in short supply this year after weather pitfalls in the Midwest and South
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 […]
Illinois Gov. Pritzker unveils butter cow and the state fair’s theme: ‘Harvest the Fun’
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.
Shrimp in Missouri? These farmers are raising fresh seafood far from the ocean
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 […]
A survey of farm households finds that the stress of farm life is felt by teens as well as adults.
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 plans to retool its pesticide program in an effort to protect endangered animals
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.
