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.
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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.
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Ranchers got tired of Big Beef taking their profits. So they started their own processing plant
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…
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Most of the Midwest is in drought. And there’s no simple way to get out of it
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…
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Young people and their horses opened the Champaign County Fair
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…
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Drought, deluge and the climate curious farmers of central Illinois
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.
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Drought made Midwest and Great Plains crops look ‘like death.’ Recent rains bring some hope
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…
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Elderberries are a successful niche crop at a crossroads: go big or stay small
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.
