The National Pork Board gives more grant money than any other checkoff. Critics say it favors Big Pork.
The pork checkoff gave at least $17 million in agriculture research grants to land-grant universities over the last decade, almost twice as much as the second-highest.
Michigan dairy farm housing: ‘Invisible’ workers suffer, state looks other way
Housing for immigrant workers on dairy farms is often tucked away and largely exempt from inspections. Advocates say that can lead to poor conditions. ‘You have no one to protect you,’ one worker says.
A new network of attorneys seeks to defend abuses of industrial agriculture. First up, Colorado.
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.
GRAPHIC: Number of agricultural fatalities has decreased, but industry remains dangerous
The number of fatal injuries to agricultural workers was close to a 10-year low in 2021, according to federal data.
ongoing investigations
Farmworker Housing
To better understand farmworkers’ housing conditions, Investigate Midwest is obtaining inspections from dozens of states. View our map of housing inspections — including violations inspectors noted — and read our coverage.
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Employers banned from hiring H-2A workers can ‘reinvent’ themselves to hire again
H-2A farmworkers often complain of housing and employment abuses, and the federal government can temporarily ban employers from the visa labor program. But the bans are easy to evade, according to government reports, experts and Investigate Midwest’s data analysis.
Las deficientes salvaguardias normativas dejan a los trabajadores agrícolas asfixiados ante el aumento de las olas de calor.
Una quinta parte de las muertes de trabajadores relacionadas con el calor registradas entre el 2017 y 2022 fueron de trabajadores agrícolas, según datos de la OSHA. Académicos, especialistas en salud ocupacional y grupos de defensa llaman la atención sobre el impacto poco reportado del cambio climático en este grupo debido a las olas de calor.
Poor regulatory safeguards leave farmworkers suffocating in the face of increasing heat waves
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.
Who owns Iowa farmland? In many cases, it’s not farmers.
The sense Iowa’s agricultural land is both scarce and gaining value has driven the average price to a record-setting $11,400 per acre last year. Now Iowa farmers are bidding not only against neighbors, but out-of-state investors including professional athletes, well-known billionaires and the Mormon Church.
Animal waste and agrochemicals are leading cause of fish kills in Iowa waterways
Agriculture is the lifeblood of Iowa, but it also contributes to mass die-offs of fish in the state’s waterways.
Environment
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Offering up advice for farmers, universities add to US water pollution
Formal fertilizer recommendations encourage producers to pour on more.
GRAPHIC: One in 10 households is food insecure, data shows
About 13.5 million households in the U.S. have difficulty putting food on their tables, according to federal data.
Support Iowa ag journalism through evening of pizza, wine, music on Sept. 10
Sunset on the Farm at Walker Homestead outside Iowa City supports the work of IowaWatch, the local newsroom of Investigate Midwest.
GRAPHIC: Food spending has rebounded since pandemic’s start
After dropping dramatically, Americans’ spending on food has increased, especially away from home.
Iowa skipper butterfly ‘canary in coal mine’: A warning sign of prairie loss consequences for farmers, wildlife alike
Nearly 250 million acres of the Great Plains have been converted to cropland as of 2020. Farmers and wildlife both suffer from the depletion of prairies.
GRAPHIC: Midwestern land-grant schools received at least 42% of ag research grant money, data shows
In the Midwest, Michigan State University leads other land-grant universities with at least $334 million in grants between 2012 and 2022.
Opinion
Opinion: Score one for the rusty patch bumblebee
The habitat for the rusty patch bumblebee has been depleted — not least because of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife…
