Investigate Midwest The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

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

Climate Change

Fertilizer washes off Midwest farm fields and taints communities’ drinking water, poisons Gulf of Mexico

By Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agricultural Data Fellow, Investigate Midwest | November 30, 2021

As rainfall events become more intense and frequent, fertilizers applied to Midwestern farmland wash away, contaminating waterways near and far.

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Graphic of the Week

GRAPHIC: Rainfall and fertilizer runoff are linked. This county shows how.
By Ignacio Calderon, USA TODAY Network Agriculture Data Fellow, Investigate Midwest | December 1, 2021
Runoff can lead to poisoned drinking water and toxic algae blooms.
Graphic of the Week

GRAPHIC: Family farms received on average $2,167 in stimulus payments in 2020
By Amanda Perez Pintado, Investigate Midwest/Report for America | November 17, 2021
Overall, farm households received about $4.3 billion in pandemic aid from the federal government, according to the USDA.
Agribusiness

As tax dollars dry up, university ag schools turn to agribusiness dollars and industry projects
By Seth Bodine and Katie Peikes, Harvest Public Media | November 16, 2021
From Iowa to Oklahoma to Kansas, universities are working more closely with agribusiness in search of ways to pay for projects where tax dollars have become more scarce. Critics worry that agriculture schools might focus more on industry than the public interest.
Agribusiness

A giant investment firm paid a university to study one of its biggest assets — farmland
By Dana Cronin, Harvest Public Media, and Johnathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest | November 16, 2021
In 2013, mammoth U.S. investment company TIAA-CREF gave $5 million to the University of Illinois — to study an area of investment where the company has made a, sometimes controversial, name for itself.
Opinion

Perspective: Department of Justice should deny Cargill-Sanderson Farms merger
By Dave Dickey, Perspective, Investigate Midwest | November 15, 2021
Dave Dickey gives his perspective on an upcoming Big Ag mega-merger Cargill and Continental Grain which owns chicken-producing Wayne Farms. The two companies are teaming up to buy Sanderson Farms, the third-largest chicken producer in the US for a cool $4.5 billion.
Agribusiness

Corporate money keeps university ag schools ‘relevant,’ and makes them targets of donor criticism
By Johnathan Hettinger and Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest; Dana Cronin, Katie Peikes and Seth Bodine, Harvest Public Media | November 15, 2021
Large donors can put universities in potentially awkward positions when faculty conclusions conflict with the interests of those benefactors. Data collected by Harvest Public Media and Investigate Midwest shows corporations have given at least $170 million to ag colleges in the past decade.
GRAPHIC: How Midwest farms use computers
By Pam Dempsey, Investigate Midwest | November 12, 2021
Based on a U.S. Department of Agriculture annual survey collected in June, most farms throughout selected Midwest states use their phones to access the internet.
Opinion

Dave Dickey’s Perspective: Big Meat’s Proposition 12 nightmare soon will be a reality
By Dave Dickey, Investigate Midwest | November 11, 2021
Long time Ag reporter, Dave Dickey, takes a look at California's Proposition 12
COVID-19 and Meatpacking

New emails shed light on meat CEOs’ lobbying in beginning of pandemic
By Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest | November 9, 2021
The leaders of pork company Smithfield Foods and chicken producer Perdue Farms were in regular contact with government officials as the coronavirus began sweeping through their plants.
Health

Maker of Seresto defends flea and tick collar amid calls for a ban over safety concerns
By Johnathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest | November 8, 2021
The company behind the popular Seresto flea-and-tick collar has filed a lengthy defense of the safety of its product amid calls for federal regulars to ban over concerns of harm and death to the pets who wear it.
COVID-19 and Meatpacking

After hundreds of COVID deaths tied to the meatpacking industry, the federal government requires vaccinations or tests
By Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest | November 4, 2021
The new federal rule comes after many of the largest meatpacking plants have already vaccinated many of its employees.
Government

SERESTO SHORT-FORM: What we’ve discovered so far about the popular collars linked to pet injuries and deaths
By Johnathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest | November 4, 2021
Read the most important takeaways from our continuing investigation into the popular flea-and-tick collar for pets.
Graphic of the Week

GRAPHIC: Which region’s growing season has increased the most?
By Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest | November 3, 2021
Since 1895, the U.S.'s growing season has increased by about two weeks, according to EPA data.
Graphic of the Week

GRAPHIC: Illinois pumps out pumpkins
By Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest | October 28, 2021
More than 80 percent of the pumpkins grown in Illinois will be processed into pie filling or other food products.
COVID-19 and Meatpacking

COVID-19 cases, deaths in meatpacking industry were much higher than previously known, congressional investigation shows
By Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest | October 28, 2021
A House of Representatives subcommittee reviewing the coronavirus pandemic found plants owned by five major meatpacking companies accounted for at least 59,000 COVID-19 cases and 269 deaths — much higher than any previous tally.