Now Playing

Loading streams...

Podcasts & RSS Feeds

Harvest Public MediaRSS
All ContentRSS
View all podcasts & RSS feeds

Harvest Public Media

Global demand for food and fuel is rising, and the push and pull for resources has serious ramifications for our country’s economic recovery and prosperity.

How much do you know about that bread you just buttered or that steak you just ate? What do you know about cars powered on ethanol or about how fracking will affect your water supply?

Harvest Public Media, based at KCUR, is a collaborative public media project that reports on important agriculture issues in the Midwest. Funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Harvest Public Media encompasses six NPR member stations in the region. To learn more, visit www.harvestpublicmedia.org, like Harvest Public Media on Facebook or follow @HarvestPM on Twitter.

Pages

Tracking NBAF
1:57 pm
Fri June 8, 2012

Redrawn District Adds To Animal Lab Concerns

Credit Eric Durban / Harvest Public Media
The site designated to become the home of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, or NBAF, is on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

The beleaguered National Bio and Agro-Defense facility could face yet more challenges as a result of new congressional parameters released today by a three-judge panel.

Read more
Central Standard
4:49 pm
Tue May 29, 2012

The Kansas City Farmer Of The Future

Cultivate Kansas City's apprentices at the Gibbs Road Farm are training to be farmers of the future.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By and

For this Wednesday's Central Standard, we bring you our second show asking-- what will the farmer of the future look like?  But this time we're looking for answers in our own metro area.

Read more
Tracking NBAF
12:01 pm
Tue May 29, 2012

NBAF Steering Committee Holds First Meeting In Topeka

Share
E-mail
Comments
By

The first meeting of a steering committee appointed by Gov. Sam Brownback last summer is taking place this morning in Topeka.

Read more
Farmer of the Future
6:00 am
Fri May 25, 2012

A Plot In The Middle

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Frank Morris / Harvest Public Media
Credit Frank Morris / Harvest Public Media
Credit Frank Morris / Harvest Public Media
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

A few years ago, things were going smoothly for Eric Neill and his family. Neill was making good money as a construction superintendent for a commercial contractor in Kansas City, traveling the country, running challenging job sites. But he wasn’t satisfied.

Read more
Central Standard
7:38 am
Thu May 24, 2012

What Will The Farmer Of The Future Look Like?

Credit Badseed / Facebook
Dan Heryer, Brooke Salvaggio and son Percy of Badseed Farmers Market and Urbavore Farms
Share
E-mail
Comments
By , and

For this Thursday's Central Standard, we've teamed up with Iowa Public Radio's Talk of Iowa and Harvest Public Media to produce a talk show on the challenges facing young farmers today.

Read more
Farmer of the Future
9:00 pm
Wed May 23, 2012

Who Are You Calling A Corporate Farmer?

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Peggy Lowe / Harvest Public Media
Chris Boeckmann grows turkeys for Cargill on his Loose Creek, Mo., farm. But he also raises grass-fed all-natural beef for his private label.
Credit Peggy Lowe / Harvest Public Media
Boeckmann is a hybrid farmer who works with the large multinational corporations that control the agricultural markets, but also responds to increasing consumer demand for “natural” food.
Credit Peggy Lowe / Harvest Public Media
Boeckmann incorporated his all-natural grass-fed beef operation this year and is selling under his Boeckmann Family Farms label to local customers, restaurants and groceries.
Credit Peggy Lowe / Harvest Public Media
Boeckmann's Turkey operation looks like a large corporate farm.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

A surprising thing happens while touring Chris Boeckmann’s turkey farm, where 50,000 birds are grown each year for Cargill Inc.

Read more
Farmer of the Future
9:00 pm
Tue May 22, 2012

The Sustainable Hand

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Jessica Naudziunas / Harvest Public Media
Dan Howell, a farmer-rancher in Marshall County, Kan., is experimenting with his land like an idealistic young farmer.
Credit Jessica Naudziunas / Harvest Public Media
Howell used to farm commodity crops on all of his land. Now, he has diversified his farm.
Credit Jessica Naudziunas / Harvest Public Media
The Powers family owns Dary Springs Farm near Lincoln, Neb.
Credit Jessica Naudziunas / Harvest Public Media
Farmer William Powers directs USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program outpost in Nebraska.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

The farmer of future will grow food and raise animals with tomorrow in mind. They’ll know contributing to the food supply is not enough. If the soil, air and water they use to produce food is damaged, good luck feeding anyone. 

Read more
Farmer of the Future
6:00 am
Tue May 22, 2012

Take Me To Your Fields: Robots On The Farm

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Jeremy Bernfeld / Harvest Public Media
Brent Ware, a member of the robotics team at Kansas State, stands next to a planting robot that won a national competition.
Credit Jeremy Bernfeld / Harvest Public Media
Three sensors allow this robot to discern where a field of crops ends.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

There’s always work to be done on the farm, but often it’s the same work day, after day, after day. Parts of the job must feel a bit like an assembly line.

Read more
Farmer of the Future
8:00 pm
Sun May 20, 2012

Blending Of Cultures May Be Blueprint For Growth

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Kathleen Masterson / Harvest Public Media
Luis Campos came to the U.S. illegally but eventually became a legal resident. Campos is now the parlor manager at Winding Meadow Dairy in Rock Valley, Iowa.
Credit Kathleen Masterson / Harvest Public Media
Terry van Maanen bought Winding Meadows Dairy from his father in the '80s and has grown it to about 600 cows. He sells milk to Land O Lakes.
Credit Kathleen Masterson / Harvest Public Media
The Natural Food Holdings plant in Sioux Center relies on its large number of Hispanic employees.
Credit Kathleen Masterson / Harvest Public Media
Over time, formerly predominantly Dutch Sioux Center, Iowa, has changed.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Sioux County, in northwest Iowa, is known for its Dutch pastries. The landscape is dotted with Lutheran and reform churches.  But today, Catholic churches and tortillerias are creeping into the landscape — signs of the new residents joining this vibrant community.

Read more
Tracking NBAF
12:17 pm
Thu May 17, 2012

NBAF Closes In On Federal Funding

Credit nbafinkansas.org
A rendering of the proposed NBAF facility in Manhattan, Kan.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) got one step closer to Congressional funding yesterday.

Read more
Headlines
8:20 am
Mon May 14, 2012

Top Of The Morning News: Monday, May 14, 2012

Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Missouri and Kansas lawmakers wrap up their legislative sessions.  Corn farmers are expecting record breaking crop.  Missouri agriculture officials work to create a buzz about bees.  It’s a roundup of daily headlines from KCUR.

Read more
Agriculture
7:00 am
Wed May 9, 2012

Government, Agencies Debate Food Aid Programs At KC Conference

Credit Laura Ziegler
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

The U.S. created its food aid program more than 50 years ago in part to alleviate surpluses in agricultural commodities. Surpluses aren't a persistent issue today, but world hunger has become a more acute problem.

Read more
Agriculture
4:55 pm
Fri May 4, 2012

An Inside Look At Research On NBAF

The proposed NBAF lab in Manhattan, Kan., is on the campus of Kansas State University.
Credit Laura Ziegler / KCUR
The proposed NBAF lab in Manhattan, Kan., is on the campus of Kansas State University.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Reporters this week got an inside look into the deliberations the National Research Council (NRC) is having while studying plans for the controversial bio-defense facility proposed for the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, Kan.

Read more
Harvest Public Media
9:20 am
Mon April 30, 2012

MF Global Crisis Leaves Rural Brokers Stuck In The Middle

Next imagePrevious image
Credit Jeremy Bernfeld / Harvest Public Media
Rural commodities broker Tom Leffler checks the markets and speaks to a client on the phone.
Credit Jeremy Bernfeld / Harvest Public Media
Patty and Tom Leffler run their small commodities brokerage, Leffler Commodities, from the basement of their home in Augusta, Kan.
Share
E-mail
Comments
By

When futures trading firm MF Global went bankrupt at the end of October, regulators discovered $1.6 billion in customer funds missing, much of it belonging to Midwest farmers and ranchers.

Read more
Headlines
8:09 am
Mon April 30, 2012

Top Of The Morning News: Monday, April 30, 2012

Share
E-mail
Comments
By

Rural brokers deal with fallout after a major derivatives broker collapses.  Kansas Governor’s office is waiting to hear back from the federal government on plans to overhaul Medicaid.  It’s a daily digest of headlines from KCUR.

Read more

Pages