Agriculture

"OAKLEY, Kan. — The need to take better care of America's rural lands came to the nation's capital — literally — on March 21, 1935."

"America’s cars run partly on fuels derived from corn and soy. That’s because of a decade-old federal mandate beloved by Midwestern farmers but opposed by an unusual coalition of oil refiners and environmentalists. On Thursday, the Trump administration sided with the farmers and announced that it would stick closely to the current rules and quotas for fuel."

"The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has blocked an attempt to rein in emissions from concentrated animal feeding operations in the state."

"ATWOOD, Kan. — Kevin Holle's farm field is crowded with dried cornstalks that crackle in the breeze and ground that's dusty despite recent rain. Three years ago, this tract was one of the Earth's most endangered ecosystems: native prairie."

"The food lobby is splintering as companies disagree about how to respond to changing consumer tastes."

"The European Union voted on Monday to extend its authorization for the world’s best-selling herbicide for an abbreviated period of five years, with France and Germany splitting over the move."

"Accelerating glacial melt in the Andes caused by climate change has set off a gold rush downstream,
letting the desert bloom. But as the ice vanishes, the vast farms below may do the same."

"MONROE, Mich. — Competing in a bass fishing tournament two years ago, Todd Steele cast his rod from his 21-foot motorboat — unaware that he was being poisoned."

"Missouri will limit the use of a weed killer made by BASF SE after farmers complained the chemical drifted and harmed their crops, following a move by Arkansas to prohibit sprayings next year of the herbicide and rival products."

"[Environmental Health News] sent reporters to the heart of hog production—North Carolina and Iowa, the two highest producing states—to see firsthand how the booming industry is re-shaping the rural U.S."