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Investigate Midwest The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Investigate Midwest (https://investigatemidwest.org/feedzy-import/investigatewest/)

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INFECTED, EXHAUSTED, DISTRESSED : A year of COVID-19 in meatpacking plants

Health

Watchdog group petitions EPA to ban Seresto pet collar after thousands report harm

By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | April 8, 2021

EPA data has linked Seresto flea and tick collars to about 1,700 pet deaths.

Our Latest

  • Graphic of the Week
    GRAPHIC: Nearly all cash crops are genetically engineered now
    By Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agriculture Data Fellow, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | April 14, 2021

    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.

  • Opinion
    Opinion: Big Meat lets down public…yet again
    By Dave Dickey, Commentator | April 14, 2021

    JBS SA owned Pilgrim's Pride is the second-largest chicken processor in the United States. But now as it turns out Pilgrims Pride is also more crooked than Lombard Street.

  • Agribusiness
    Union files OSHA complaint against one of the largest pork plants in the country
    By Madison McVan, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | April 8, 2021

    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.

  • coronavirus
    Infected, Exhausted, Distressed
    By Madison McVan, Ignacio Calderon, Sky Chadde, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | April 8, 2021

    A year on, meatpacking workers continue to confront COVID-19. Read their stories.

  • Opinion
    Opinion: EPA is wrong to allow dicamba be sprayed this growing season
    By Dave Dickey, Commentator | April 7, 2021

    We now have an admission of guilt from EPA that it wrongly issued 2018 dicamba registrations for Bayer's XtendiMax herbicide, BASF's Engenia herbicide and Corteva's FeXapan herbicide. New acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff said as much to EPA staffers in an internal e-mail on March 10 that read in part:

  • Climate Change and Agribusiness
    Once climate change deniers, the agriculture industry positions itself as part of the solution
    By Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agriculture Data Fellow | April 1, 2021

    Recently, a coalition of Big Ag companies and groups formed the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance, which has the stated aim to help address a warming planet.

  • Coronavirus
    GRAPHIC: COVID-19 death rates in rural communities surpassed urban ones in September
    By Sky Chadde, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | April 1, 2021

    In December, small towns had a rate of about 10 deaths a week, according to a USDA analysis.

  • Agribusiness
    Illinois billionaire Shahid Khan investing in thousands of acres of the state’s farmland
    By Marissa Plescia, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and Dylan Tiger, CU-CitizenAccess | April 1, 2021

    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.

  • Opinion
    Opinion: USDA was duplicit in passing new pork inspection final rule
    By Dave Dickey, Commentator | March 31, 2021

    Everybody kept telling us that USDA's new Swine Inspection Service was just dandy. Former USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue literally gushed and fawned over it:

  • Espanol
    Undocumented immigrants qualify for rent relief, but Wisconsin sends mixed signals
    By Vanessa Swales, Wisconsin Watch | March 29, 2021

    Some regional nonprofits administering Gov. Tony Evers’ $322 million emergency rental assistance program may be unintentionally discouraging non-U.S. citizens from applying — even though immigration status holds no bearing on eligibility for the federally financed program.

  • Health
    Class-action lawsuit filed against producer of Seresto flea and tick collars
    By Johnathan Hettinger, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | March 26, 2021

    The lawsuit cites reporting from the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and USA TODAY that showed the EPA has received tens of thousands of reports linking the collar to incidents of injured pets.

  • Coronavirus
    ‘We need an emergency plan now’: Housing problems persist for Imperial County farmworkers
    By Jennifer Bowman, inewsource | March 26, 2021

    With a history of double-digit unemployment and poor health indicators, Imperial County was among the hardest hit in the state in the early months of COVID-19. Its farmworkers, the backbone of the county’s $4.5 billion agriculture industry, have continued their high-risk work during the pandemic.

  • Climate Change and Agribusiness
    Alpine chicken rancher rejected for fire insurance. He’s not alone in California.
    By Camille von Kaenel, inewsource | March 26, 2021

    San Diego County’s nearly $1.8 billion agriculture industry is facing significant risks as fire insurance becomes harder for farmers to get. Insurers are reluctant to offer policies in rural areas where climate change has increased the risk of destructive brush fires.

  • Graphic of the Week
    Since 1955 the Vermilion Power Plant has been storing toxic coal ash in three ponds next to the Middle Fork Vermilion River near Oakwood, Illinois
    GRAPHIC: Environmental regulation enforcement varies widely from state to state
    By Madison McVan, Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | March 24, 2021

    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.

  • Agribusiness
    As regulations vanish, one Missouri county is ground zero for factory farming debate
    By Mallory Daily, for the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting | March 22, 2021

    The state eliminated local control over large animal feeding operations. Some rural residents want that power back.

Database: Tracking Covid-19’s impact on meatpacking workers and industry

USDA photo by Preston Keres

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) meat inspectors and graders perform their mission.

Illinois billionaire Shahid Khan investing in thousands of acres of the state’s farmland

Farm acreage at the1831 2500N, Thomasboro, IL belonging to Baloo Enterpriseson Saturday, March 13, 2021. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access

Opinion

  • Opinion: Big Meat lets down public…yet again

    JBS SA owned Pilgrim's Pride is the second-largest chicken processor in the United States. But now as it turns out Pilgrims Pride is also more crooked than Lombard Street.

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The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit, online newsroom offering investigative and enterprise coverage of agribusiness,big ag and related issues through data analysis, visualizations, in-depth reports and interactive web tools. Learn More »

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About Investigate Midwest

The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit, online newsroom offering investigative and enterprise coverage of agribusiness,big ag and related issues through data analysis, visualizations, in-depth reports and interactive web tools. Learn More »

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