Graphic of the Week
GRAPHIC: As industry pushed fears of meat shortage, exports increased
|
Trade data shows the value of American meat exports reached its highest level since 2014.
Graphic of the Week
GRAPHIC: Nearly all cash crops are genetically engineered now
|
More than 90 percent of all corn, cotton and soybeans planted in the U.S. are genetically engineered, according to data from the Department of Agriculture.
Agribusiness
Union files OSHA complaint against one of the largest pork plants in the country
|
The complaint states Seaboard Foods in Guymon, Oklahoma, did not report coronavirus cases to federal authorities and also failed to implement worker protections, such as social distancing measures.
Agribusiness
Illinois billionaire Shahid Khan investing in thousands of acres of the state’s farmland
|
In recent years, Urbana billionaire Shahid Khan has added to investments by quietly purchasing farmland through a company he owns called Baloo Enterprises LLC. A spokesperson for Khan confirmed earlier this month that Khan has purchased roughly 24,000 acres of farmland in central Illinois.
Agribusiness
As regulations vanish, one Missouri county is ground zero for factory farming debate
|
The state eliminated local control over large animal feeding operations. Some rural residents want that power back.
Coronavirus
OSHA faults pork plant for failing to protect workers from COVID-19, but issues no fines
|
An OSHA inspection into Triumph Foods confirms much of what USA TODAY and the Midwest Center found last year in an investigation of the company.
Agribusiness
Information on factory farms is spotty at best. The government has been hogtied from doing more.
|
CAFOs have been a point of contention between the livestock industry and environmental activists since they began to proliferate in the 1990s, overtaking small, pasture-feeding operations as the dominant form of animal agriculture in the US. As the number of livestock producers has declined, the number of animals — hogs, cattle and poultry — has skyrocketed over the past several decades, in part due to rapid consolidation in the industry.
Agribusiness
The CDC recommended states prioritize farmworkers for the COVID-19 vaccine. A few large agricultural states have not.
|
A few states with large agricultural populations have, so far, left farmworkers out of their COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Coronavirus
Ten months into pandemic, Rochelle Foods and Illinois health department still at odds over COVID-19
|
An infected worker allegedly told the plant's manager he was feeling better after his positive test. He told the county health department the opposite.
Agribusiness
Biden administration reviews Trump regulatory rollbacks likely to harm farmworkers
|
In one of his first acts Wednesday, President Joe Biden ordered federal agencies to review Trump-era rules that advocacy groups said harmed public health and the environment.