Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/category/graphic-of-the-week/)
Millions of tons of corn, wheat and soybeans travel down the Mississippi River each year to be shipped all over the world from New Orleans.
As of April 17, 641,000 tons of grain passed through Lock 27, a canal that runs more than two-dozen miles long and is located just outside of St. Louis in Granite City, Illinois.
Trade data shows the value of American meat exports reached its highest level since 2014.
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.
In December, small towns had a rate of about 10 deaths a week, according to a USDA analysis.
The number of enforcement actions and the size of fines levied against companies for violating environmental protection laws is vastly different from state to state.
Seeds and fertilizers make up 62% of the operating costs to produce corn and 51% of the operating costs to produce soybeans, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
The pesticides glyphosate and dicamba, both in products produced by Bayer (formerly Monsanto) have made headlines in the past year as lawsuits mount against the company for damages from these products.
OSHA received its first complaints about meatpacking plants almost a full year ago, on March 17, 2020. At two plants in North Carolina, people were elbow-to-elbow, with no change in operations, according to OSHA data.
After a 2018 E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce hospitalized more than 100 people and killed five, the US Food and Drug Administration put together an action plan to reduce E. coli contamination in leafy greens.
Fines have ebbed and flowed over the years, but there was a drop off in the past four years.