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Climate Change and Agribusiness

Obama: Climate change now a national security issue

By Johnathan Hettinger | September 22, 2016

From extended drought and frequent flooding to foreign political tensions exacerbated by lack of food and water, the United States has started to treat climate change as a national security issue, after President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum on Wednesday.

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

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

Opinion

Opinion: Dicamba 2021…haven’t we seen this movie before?

Movie plot: In a heroic effort to save the world's soybean crop from dastardly evolving weeds the Environmental Protection Agency authorizes Big Ag – staring Bayer AG and BASF – to unleash the flawed herbicide dicamba in a desperate all-out assault. The EPA acknowledges the holy h-e-double-toothpicks of dicamba is risky but assures everyone they've “got a label” for that. Dicamba beats back the weed invaders, but collateral damage is huge to the nation's peach, cotton, tobacco, tomato, and sunflower crops. EPA says it's sorry about all the unwanted damage and swears to tweak dicamba rules of weed engagement and next time it will be difference (cue patriotic music and American flags).

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Rural America

Minnesota has figured out a way to help stressed farmers. Can it be replicated?

This story is part of a yearlong project exploring the ways farmers and farming communities tackle mental health and is supported with a grant from the Solutions Journalism Network. When Pam Uhlenkamp separated from her husband earlier this year, she knew the person to call. As a farm business management instructor, Uhlenkamp mentors farmers one-on-one.

From the USDA

USDA Exempts Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2020 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced a final Alaska Roadless Rule that exempts the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 provision that prohibited road construction, road reconstruction and timber harvests.

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SEEDS OF DESPAIR: Isolated, and with limited access to mental-health care, hundreds are dying by suicide.

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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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