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Agribusiness

With no guaranteed protections from COVID-19, agricultural workers face tough decision: protect their lives or retain financial security

By Frank Hernandez, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 21, 2020

Some states have enforced rules to prevent COVID-19's spread among farmworkers, but the federal government hasn't done so, leaving many workers unprotected, advocates said.

Agribusiness

EPA takes steps to allow continued use of pesticides linked to cancer, brain development issues in children
By Johnathan Hettinger/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 24, 2020
The Trump administration in recent days took steps toward continuing to allow the use of two popular pesticides linked to developmental issues in children. In both cases, the agency weakened its metrics for assessing human health protections. On Sept. 18, the EPA approved the continued use of atrazine, the second most commonly sprayed herbicide in […]
GRAPHIC: There are now half as many dairy farms today than in 2003
By Pramod Acharya, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 23, 2020
There are less than half of the licensed dairy farms in the United States than nearly two decades ago, according to an analysis of USDA data.
GRAPHIC: Design of South Dakota meatpacking plant contributed to high number of COVID-19 cases, CDC says
By Pramod Acharya, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 16, 2020
In an August report, the CDC noted a difference between salaries employees in an office setting and the hourly workers on the production line.

Coronavirus

Trump administration launches second round of coronavirus money to farmers as critics question long-term impact
By Johnathan Hettinger/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 23, 2020
“He took actions that cost U.S. farmers a lot of money, and potentially have a lot of long-term downsides,” said Joseph Glauber, a former USDA Chief Economist and senior research fellow at the International Food Research Center. “But you can have as bad of policy as you want, if you can silence the critics by giving them a bunch of money.”
GRAPHIC: Design of South Dakota meatpacking plant contributed to high number of COVID-19 cases, CDC says
By Pramod Acharya, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 16, 2020
In an August report, the CDC noted a difference between salaries employees in an office setting and the hourly workers on the production line.
SURVEY: We asked farmers how they’re dealing with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what they said.
By Marissa Plescia, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 10, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened some farmers' stress. A few shared how they're managing it.

Dicamba on Trial

Conservation groups push EPA to deny dicamba registration over wildlife concerns
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | August 12, 2020
A new report from conservation groups says that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should not re-approve the herbicide dicamba for use on genetically modified crops until the agency can prove it doesn’t harm wildlife.
In Roundup settlement, Bayer reaches $400 million deal with farmers over dicamba
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | June 24, 2020
Bayer has reached a $400 million settlement with farmers whose crops have been damaged by drift from the herbicide dicamba, the company announced Wednesday. The settlement was announced alongside the company’s $10 billion settlement over claims that the herbicide Roundup causes cancer.
Federal court denies motion to hold EPA in contempt of dicamba ruling
By Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | June 19, 2020
A request to hold the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in contempt of a June 3 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals order to vacate registrations of the weed killer dicamba was denied Friday.

Wellness on the Farm

“Fall-off-a-cliff moment”: Covid-19 adds new dimension to farmers’ stress
By Marissa Plescia, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Farmers faced high levels of stress before the pandemic. But the virus’s impact on agriculture has only deepened some farmers’ stress, experts said.
SEEDS OF DESPAIR: Isolated, and with limited access to mental-health care, hundreds are dying by suicide.
By Katie Wedell, USA TODAY NETWORK Lucille Sherman, USA TODAY NETWORK Sky Chadde, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
American farmers produce nearly all of the country’s food and contribute some $133 billion annually to the gross domestic product. Yet they now are saddled with near-record debt, declaring bankruptcy at rising rates and selling off their farms amid an uncertain future clouded by climate change and whipsawed by tariffs and bailouts. For some, the burden is too much to bear.
Seeking a Cure: Mental health access scarce in rural, farming communities
By Claire Hettinger and Pam Dempsey, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
With farmers facing increasing stress and depression, Midwestern states and national farm groups are making more efforts to better provide services to alleviate the high rate of suicide among the agriculture industry. Yet in rural areas, this care is more of a challenge.

Government

U.S. Department of Labor cites Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. for failing to protect employees from coronavirus
By U.S. Department of Labor
September 10, 2020 U.S. Department of Labor Cites Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. For Failing to Protect Employees from Coronavirus SIOUX FALLS, SD - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus. […]
New pesticide regulations would fix “broken and outdated” system at the EPA, sponsors say
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Called the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2020, the bill provides a framework for fixing a regulatory system sponsors Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colorado) dub “broken and outdated”.
The fertilizer that might have caused the Beirut explosion is all over the US. It’s unevenly regulated.
By Joe Wertz, Center for Public Integrity
As investigators work to find the official cause of the blast, Lebanon President Michel Aoun said it was fueled by an estimated 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that was stored unsafely in a warehouse.

Environment

EPA Inspector General: Covid-19 could affect agency’s ability to communicate health risks to communities
By Samuel Trilling, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | June 25, 2020
Covid-19 could hamper the EPA’s ability to inform communities of health risks, according to a report released this month from the agency’s Office of Inspector General. Specifically, the inspector general’s office worried the EPA might not be able to inform residents who live near facilities with emissions that could cause cancer. In a separate report […]
EPA sidesteps normal public process to approve BASF’s cancer-linked pesticide
By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | April 3, 2020
This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that soybean farmers in 25 states are now able to spray a pesticide that the agency has determined is likely to cause cancer and drift hundreds of feet from where it is applied.
As sales of the pesticide chlorpyrifos ends in California, maker Corteva announces it will stop producing it.
By Sky Chadde/Gannett Ag Data Fellow | February 7, 2020
Corteva Agriscience – the main manufacturer of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that has been linked to brain damage in children – said it would stop its production by the end of this year.

Investigate Midwest The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Agribusiness

With no guaranteed protections from COVID-19, agricultural workers face tough decision: protect their lives or retain financial security

By Frank Hernandez, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | September 21, 2020

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