Farm & Field
Concerns remain over super chemical meant to fight super weeds
Farmers engaged in an epic struggle with “superweeds” – weeds that don’t die even when sprayed with herbicide – are looking for help from a new super chemical that’s about to hit the market. Currently the last line of defense against weeds not felled by other herbicides, the new chemical could be defeated if it…
‘Fed Up’ asks: Who’s to blame for obesity?
Just who’s to blame for the childhood obesity epidemic? Over the years, the finger has been pointed at parents, video games and vending machines, to name a few. To the makers of the new activist documentary, “Fed Up,” the bottom line of blame lies with a simple substance poured into our diets every day: sugar. And the pushers of what this film calls a drug and “the new tobacco” are the food industry and our own government.
At USDA, Vilsack focused on rural development
The U.S. Department of Agriculture touches Americans from the field to the cafeteria, with a bevy of programs that include subsidies for farmers and for school lunches. It also has a role in supporting rural communities more generally, with things like broadband internet, telemedicine and microloans for entrepreneurs. It’s a diverse mandate, but it fits…
Food fights, FLOTUS and GMOs: The top food and field stories from 2014
Harvest Public Media was created four years ago to report on agriculture and food production in the geographic area where the majority of that takes place – the Midwest. This year, my third of counting the top ag stories of the year, I find that the issues taking center stage were set not here, but in the politics, policies and processes of Washington D.C., state legislatures or the ballot box.
Grain glut clogs railways, rivers, roads
For the Midwest’s biggest crops, this harvest season was a big one. With winter setting in, the race is on for farmers to ship out their harvest so it’s not left out to spoil. But the giant harvest and a lack of available rail cars have created a traffic jam on the rails and the…