Abby Wendle
Reporter
Abby Wendle is a Harvest Public Media reporter. She's based at Tri States Public Radio in Macomb, Ill.
Stories by Abby Wendle
Food Companies Pressure Farmers To Reduce Runoff
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series on agricultural runoff from Harvest Public Media. The first part of the series ran on Flatland on September, 26. In order to grow massive amounts of corn and soybeans, two crops at the center of the U.S. food system, farmers in the Midwest typically apply hundreds…
From ‘combine karaoke’ to cursing: The sounds of harvest in the Midwest
Erik Terstriep, perched in the captain’s chair of his combine, glides through eight rows of corn at a time. When he lifts up the harvesting head to turn the machine around, it lets out a quick, staccato, “beep, beep, beep.” Terstriep is fluent in the language of this machine, able to decipher every chirp. “You…
Choice Cuts: Massive corn crops form backbone of meat industry
This is part two of Harvest Public Media’s week-long series Choice Cuts: Meat In America, examining how the meat industry is changing the U.S. food system and the American diet. The documentary on the subject will air 7:30 pm this Thursday on KCPT. Drive down a dirt road, a two-lane country highway, even many Interstates in the Midwest and the view…
My Farm Roots: Room to Roam
Listen to this story: The Matthew family farm, M&M&m Farms, outside of La Harpe, Ill., looks different from the farms surrounding it. It’s not filled with neat rows of soybeans or lines of corn that’s over-my-head high in late July. The Matthew’s place is a bit more disorganized and far more diverse. “A lot of…
When it rains, it pours – how storms are affecting this year’s crops
Driving down a two-lane highway in rural Missouri, Matt Plenge squinted at a patch of gray clouds hanging low over his farm fields in the distance. “Does it look hazy up there?” he asked. “We only had a 20 percent chance today. We shouldn’t get any rain.” Plenge, like most farmers, always keeps one eye…
A new plan for climate change, from the USDA
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a new plan that offers incentives to farmers who volunteer to take steps that would help cut agriculture’s contribution to climate change. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking to an audience at Michigan State University, said the proposal will give farmers, ranchers, and foresters the technical support and financial...
How redefining ‘farmers’ could change a farm-subsidy loophole
Big farms are collecting taxpayer dollars that they haven’t necessarily earned by taking advantage of a loophole in government subsidy rules, according to regulators, members of Congress and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking aim at what is known as the “actively engaged” loophole, which has been gaping for...
Back from war, on to the farm
Veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan often have a hard time transitioning back to their civilian lives and careers. They have higher rates of divorce, depression and suicide. And they’re more likely to be unemployed than both civilians and veterans of other wars. In recent years, thousands of veterans like Creech have showed an...
To limit sales, states propose legalizing raw milk
The federal government banned raw milk sales across state lines nearly three decades ago because it poses a threat to public health. The Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association all strongly advise people not to drink it. Individual states still control raw milk sales within their borders. And…
How the grain glut could hurt rural economies
American farmers grew more corn and soybeans in 2014 than ever before, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest crop production report. The glut has pushed grain prices to a five-year low, forcing some farmers in Midwestern states to operate on much tighter profit margins than in recent history. Some will even sell their...