Farm & Field
Deadly pig virus remains a mystery – and a threat
Editor’s Note: This is Part I of a two-part series from KCPT’s partner, Harvest Public Media, tracking the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea. Look for Part II tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 20th, here on Flatland. A fast-spreading virus never before seen in the United States hit the pork industry more than two years ago, racking up roughly $1 billion…
Tracking a Virus
In the spring of 2013, hundreds of baby pigs were dying off and nobody knew what was making them so sick. As a deadly virus hopscotched across farms, researchers went to work as disease detectives, hoping to contain, identify and track the cause. The virus was identified as Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, never before seen in…
Fuel: It’s What’s For Dinner
There are few places where the connection between energy and food is more obvious than at the Bright Agrotech warehouse in Laramie, Wyo. Most of the building is filled floor to ceiling with giant shelves of cardboard boxes and tubing—equipment Bright Agrotech sells to farmers—but in one corner of the warehouse, there’s a small farm:…
EPA Increases Mandate For Ethanol
The amount of ethanol blended into the U.S. fuel supply will go up under new rules issued Monday. In releasing the details of the Renewable Fuel Standard, the policy that sets the amount of biofuels oil refiners must blend into the fuel supply, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it planned to continue to increase the…
