Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Practical Farmers of Iowa is based in Ames, Iowa — not Des Moines. Investigate Midwest regrets the error. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Few people outside Quaker Oats know exactly what the Cedar Rapids factory is making when a sweet, wholesome smell wafts from the plant north […]| Investigate Midwest
Now in its 50th season, the Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market draws hundreds of vendors each Saturday from May to October, as shoppers buy flowers, baked goods, spices and produce. It’s a festive atmosphere with street musicians on the corners and families and their pets threading through the crowds. But amidst the vibrancy of one […]| Investigate Midwest
Now in its 50th season, the Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market draws hundreds of vendors each Saturday from May to October, as shoppers buy flowers, baked goods, spices and produce. It’s a festive atmosphere with street musicians on the corners and families and their pets threading through the crowds. But amidst the vibrancy of one […] The post At the Des Moines farmers market, tariffs and inflation squeeze vendors appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
“Even though my body is tired and my thoughts torment me, this country will not humiliate me; I know God will give me refuge, even if this country leaves me with nothing.” St. Alexus parishioners in Beardstown, Illinois Spoken in Spanish during a short play written and performed by parishioners at St. Alexus Catholic Church […] The post Immigration crackdown shakes a rural Illinois town appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
The latest forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture says net farm income will reach $179.8 billion in 2025, up 40% from last year. On the surface, that sounds like a big rebound. In reality, most of that increase comes from federal disaster payments, not from stronger crop or livestock markets. USDA says producers will […] The post Farm profits forecast to rise, but federal aid remains a big safety net appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
Over the last four decades, America’s agricultural output has nearly doubled, as the production of livestock and crops has not only fed the nation but also fueled growing food demand in Asia and South America. But in the rural communities that have made the U.S. a global food power, residents are increasingly finding it difficult […] The post These rural communities feed the world. They’re also going hungry. appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
Big Meat has been playing its “Product of USA” labeling con on the American public ever since Barack Obama was in the White House. Congressional repeal of mandatory country of origin labels created a loophole that allowed Big Meat to slap Product of USA labels on meat imported from foreign countries. What? Yup. That Product […] The post The ‘Product of USA’ labeling fight with meatpacking companies isn’t over. appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
This story was originally published by The New Lede. Top regulatory officials met with agricultural and chemical industry representatives dozens of times in the first few months after President Trump took office in January, government records show — meetings that were followed by a series of regulatory rollbacks and a downplaying of pesticide concerns by the administration’s […] The post FOIA records reveal EPA leaders frequent meetings with industry lobbyists appeared first on Invest...| Investigate Midwest
The Trump administration’s goal to expel millions of immigrants laboring in the food system will likely increase the foreign workforce in the U.S., experts said Thursday. The administration has said it wants U.S.-born workers to replace the immigrants who harvest fruits and vegetables and cut and package protein. But the more likely outcome is that […] The post ‘We want workers but we don’t want people’: Trump’s immigration raids will likely increase foreign workers in US, experts...| Investigate Midwest
Rural Illinois is shrinking. Over the past decade, all of Illinois’ 21 farm-dependent counties – places where farming makes up a large share of jobs and income – have lost population. Meanwhile, the state’s rural areas tied to meatpacking and food manufacturing have seen immigration slow population losses and, in some cases, keep local economies afloat. […] The post Rural Illinois’ food economy depends on immigrants appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, the south end of town near the municipal airport has no grocery stores, no food pantries. Mired in a federally recognized food desert, nearby families struggled to obtain healthy food. Then, in 2019, in a once-empty lot, a community garden sprouted. Families could pick their own blueberries, peas and okra. The nonprofit […] The post USDA’s DEI Purge: How Trump and Rollins are reshaping American agriculture appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
Less than two months ago, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its intent to unconditionally register three new dicamba-based pesticides for over-the-top usage on soybean and cotton crops. To say EPA has a checkered history in trying to get dicamba registered is an understatement. The federal courts have twice revoked EPA approval of dicamba. In 2020, […]| Investigate Midwest
U.S. farmers are likely staring down another year in the red, faced with a familiar cycle: rising costs and weakening markets. After years of strong grain prices between 2021 and 2023, growing corn and soybeans is no longer profitable — a trend likely to continue and one that farm groups warn could spark a financial […]| Investigate Midwest
This story is supported by funding from the Chicago Region Food Systems Fund. Esta historia también está disponible en español aquí. In Beardstown, Illinois, the Cuban couple had spent the past year building a life they were proud of. Their arrival in the U.S. had followed a long and uncertain path: a northbound journey through […]| Investigate Midwest
Esta nota cuenta con el apoyo del Chicago Region Food Systems Fund. Read the story in English here. En Beardstown, Illinois, la pareja cubana había pasado el último año construyendo una vida de la que se sentían orgullosos. Llegaron a Estados Unidos después de un camino largo e incierto: un viaje rumbo al norte a […]| Investigate Midwest
After the Civil War, the U.S. government promised 40 acres, either from abandoned plantations or unused land, to formerly enslaved Black people. But then President Andrew Johnson intervened. He pardoned Confederates, returning their land. It became a common theme. In the following decades, some Black farmers gained land through deals with white landowners: After being […]| Investigate Midwest
You might recall in the wake of Donald Trump’s first inauguration how POTUS, angry about discussion over the size of his swearing-in crowd, trotted out press secretary Sean Spicer to set the record straight. Spicer dressed down the media, saying it was engaging “in deliberately false reporting,” and the facts indicated that “this was the […]| Investigate Midwest
What happens when immigration enforcement targets the very workers who help keep it alive? The conversation comes as Investigate Midwest launches a new grant-funded reporting series exploring how Trump-era immigration raids, stepped-up ICE enforcement, and delayed federal reform have reshaped the agricultural workforce — and the lives of noncitizen workers behind it.| Investigate Midwest
Ajulo Othow started solar and storage company EnerWealth Solutions seven years ago to get small solar projects on farmland and other places in rural communities in the Southeast where money is tight and the phrase “green economy” is rarely spoken. In just the last year, Othow said the amount of solar her company has developed […]| Investigate Midwest
Iowa and Minnesota farmers are investing in new oat mill and pushing Quaker and General Mills to check out their product.| Investigate Midwest
The tariff wars waged by President Trump’s two administrations have reshaped U.S. agricultural trade with China. The first trade war, in 2018 and 2019, opened the door for South American countries to gain market share in soybean and corn sales to China. Unlike the first, this second trade war is global in scope. Its full […]| Investigate Midwest
If you live in Champaign County, odds are you’re close to soybean fields – and to the weed killers sprayed on them. A new analysis by Tufts University researchers found that 45% of the county’s residents lived near heavy 2,4-D use in 2023, nearly double the share in 2017. Statewide, farmers applied more than 2 […]| Investigate Midwest
Corn is ubiquitous. Americans eat a lot of corn products. There’s the obvious…corn tortillas, corn flakes and corn chips just to name a few. Beyond that the manufactured food industry uses processed corn in a majority of foods served to the public. Sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. Thickeners like corn starch. Additives like dextrose, […]| Investigate Midwest
On Sunday, Sept. 14, from 5 to 8 p.m., Investigate Midwest invites you to join in the fun at Walker Homestead, just outside Iowa City, during our annual fundraiser, Sunset on the Farm. This year’s gathering will feature unlimited wood-fired pizza and fresh salad, live music, a silent auction, and s’mores by the fire. Guests […]| Investigate Midwest
This story was originally published by The New Lede. Roughly a quarter of the nation’s large cattle, dairy and hog farms are located in just 30 U.S. counties, a new satellite-mapping study has found. The research also links large farms — whether in these dense hotspots or scattered elsewhere — to elevated air pollution. The study supports […]| Investigate Midwest
Unyielding is a University of Missouri School of Journalism project for Investigate Midwest. Missouri has nearly 27 million acres of farmland. Nearly all of it is blanketed by pesticides. Crop farming is integral to Missouri’s economy, and pesticides are meant to ease the process. But these substances also come with risks. The level of risk differs […]| Investigate Midwest
Jack Link’s has poured $2.3 million into Trump campaigns to ensure its meat snacks stay eligible for SNAP and school nutrition programs.| Investigate Midwest
Opinion: A new federal lawsuit aims to block Prop 12, threatening California’s landmark animal welfare law and raising stakes for farmers and consumers alike.| Investigate Midwest
This week, swaths of the U.S. are dealing with high temperatures and warnings of heat stroke, a potentially deadly condition. The heat wave comes just as federal regulators have convened public hearings on a Biden-era proposal aimed at preventing deaths related to heat illness among U.S. workers. Farmworkers are among those most at-risk, according to […]| Investigate Midwest
Over 500,000 immigrants lost work authorization, causing labor shortages and a projected 14.5% rise in food prices by 2028.| Investigate Midwest
Investigate Midwest: OSHA found ADM’s grain dust prevention systems were inadequate during a July 2024 explosion at its Decatur plant.| Investigate Midwest
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Iowa — A few years ago, Holly Jones started studying the micro-climate and the topography on her family farm in Crawfordsville, Iowa, about 40 miles south of Iowa City. Jones said learning more about the landscape of her fifth generation flower farm helped her recognize some of the ways weather and climate change could […]| Investigate Midwest
Six months into her tenure, Brooke Rollins has reduced USDA staff, sidelined science, shifted agency culture, and expanded DOGE’s influence.| Investigate Midwest
Immigration tracker covers the latest enforcement in the ag sector, including policy shifts, raids, and labor impacts on the food system.| Investigate Midwest
Nothing beats ice cream on a hot summer afternoon. But while you’re savoring that frozen treat, it’s worth asking: how much of what you paid actually reaches the farmer who produced the milk? The answer might surprise you: Dairy farmers earn a far smaller share from ice cream than from butter. That’s because milk undergoes […]| Investigate Midwest
The writing is on the wall. Should John Deere choose to defend itself in court rather than attempt to reach a settlement, it very much may be handed a massive spanking by the Justice Department, which alleges the company’s repair restrictions violate federal and state antitrust laws. See here, here and here. In a nutshell, […]| Investigate Midwest
KLEVENVILLE, Wis. — Two piglets jostled in the barnyard as Jess D’Souza stepped outside. Neither youngster seemed to be winning their morning game of tug-of-war over an empty feed bag. Jess approached the chicken coop. She swung open the weathered door. The flood of fowl scampered up a hill to a cluster of empty food […]| Investigate Midwest
This story was originally published by The New Lede. Agricultural operations across Iowa are a leading cause of significant water pollution problems in the state, posing dire risks to public and environmental health, according to a new scientific report that is sparking heated debate in the key US farm state. The 227-page “Central Iowa Source Water Research […]| Investigate Midwest
Most U.S. states have experienced a decline in the number of households using the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, over the last decade. Only 14 states have seen an increase in the number of households using the food assistance program, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data for fiscal years 2015 to […]| Investigate Midwest
It’s Fourth of July week, which means we’ve officially entered the second half of the year. At Investigate Midwest, we began 2025 with a renewed focus on covering the incoming Trump administration, including his appointments that have the greatest impact on the nation’s food system. One story investigated efforts by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President […]| Investigate Midwest
Last month, Investigate Midwest’s Monica Cordero explored why President Donald Trump’s second trade war could hit U.S. farmers harder than his first. Her story reported on the various financial challenges farmers face. Here are four charts from that story that highlight those challenges: Net farm income declined for two consecutive years after peaking in 2022. […]| Investigate Midwest
The April posting in the Federal Register by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was a bombshell. The feds are proposing to eliminate the regulatory Endangered Species Act’s definition of “harm.” Full stop. The ESA declares that it is illegal to “take” any member of a protected species […]| Investigate Midwest
BELZONI, Miss. — For Pepper Roberts, running a successful farm comes down to managing risk and planning for potential challenges. While other farmers sold their crops last fall, Roberts used grain bins to store half of his corn harvest, betting that he’d get a better price once corn supplies grew scarce. In January, Roberts sold […]| Investigate Midwest
For April Hemmes, a fourth-generation farmer on land her family has worked for almost 125 years in north-central Iowa, life is guided by a simple philosophy: “Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” It’s a mindset that has helped her navigate extreme weather, market shocks and trade disputes. But this year, Hemmes said, […]| Investigate Midwest