Alex Milan Tracy for Underscore
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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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GRAPHIC: Ports in New Orleans and the Northwest account for most agricultural export traffic
March 19, 2024
Around 20% of U.S. agriculture products are exported to other countries, making the nation’s seaports a critical part of the crop and meat industries.
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Oklahoma governor says China is buying up the state’s farmland. The data he cites points to other countries.
November 09, 2023
Dozens of states and Congress are looking at ways to stop foreign companies from buying American land.
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Crops and solar intersect as Iowa’s first agrivoltaics project prepares to power up
October 31, 2023
The collaboration between Iowa State University and Alliant Energy is the first utility-scale agrivoltaics project in the Midwest. Researchers will raise bees and plant vegetables, fruits and pollinator habitat within the 10-acre solar farm.
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A new network of attorneys seeks to defend abuses of industrial agriculture. First up, Colorado.
September 21, 2023
FarmSTAND focuses resources on specific cases that can change precedent on agricultural issues in the courts, working in collaboration with grassroots organizations from local to national levels.
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Pillen’s Water: High nitrate detected on hog farms owned by Nebraska’s governor
September 07, 2023
Monitoring wells at 16 Pillen family-tied operations have tested for nitrate levels far above legal drinking water limit. One was so high, an expert said, “it should be a 911.”
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Poor regulatory safeguards leave farmworkers suffocating in the face of increasing heat waves
August 24, 2023
A fifth of reported heat-related deaths between 2017 and 2022 were agricultural workers, according to OSHA data. Academics, occupational health specialists and advocacy groups are calling attention to the under-reported impact of climate change on this group from heatwaves.
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EPA posts databases of pesticide harm to people, pets and wildlife for first time in agency history
July 27, 2023
“This is the most significant step the EPA has taken in years to increase transparency about pesticides’ harms,” one advocate said.
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Three widely used pesticides driving hundreds of endangered species toward extinction, according to EPA
July 20, 2023
Analysis: The chemicals known as neonics are killing bees and other pollinators, polluting waters and ending up in people’s urine.
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Facing high fertilizer costs, farmers still struggle to use less
July 13, 2023
Fertilizer use can harm the environment, but farmers rely on it for increased yield and profits.
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Back wages owed to H-2A workers have doubled in the last 15 years
July 05, 2023
Migrant farmworkers comprise a minority of America’s agricultural workforce but are owed nearly two-thirds of the industry’s back pay.
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With billions on the table for water infrastructure, small communities risk being left out to dry
June 19, 2023
The American Rescue Plan Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and other programs represent a historic investment in the country’s water infrastructure, totaling billions of dollars. But the total available funding, even after it’s all been doled out, still won’t be enough.
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Fertilizer plants add to toxic loads in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’
June 15, 2023
Along one section of the Mississippi River, residents struggle for environmental justice.
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Millets — ancient drought-resistant grains — could help the Midwest survive climate change
May 30, 2023
The United Nations declared 2023 the International Year of Millets. Some Midwestern farmers are already growing the grain.
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Lost in translation: How USDA barriers leave immigrant farmers and ranchers behind
May 22, 2023
Federal agriculture funding is a vital resource, but immigrant producers face language and cultural obstacles to benefiting from it.
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In bankruptcy’s wake, a Minnesota meatpacking plant’s visa workers face an uncertain future
May 12, 2023
If the HyLife Foods pork processing plant closes in the next few weeks, hundreds of workers will be returned to their home countries within 10 days.
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