Katie Peikes
Reporter, Iowa Public RadioI report on agriculture and rural issues for Harvest Public Media from Ames, Iowa and am based at Iowa Public Radio.
I’ve been with Iowa Public Radio since July 2018. Before moving over to the agriculture beat in January 2021, I was IPR’s first-ever western Iowa reporter, based in Sioux City. I covered the 2019 Missouri River Flooding and the 2020 Iowa caucuses, among other things.
I previously reported on the environment, agriculture and rural issues at Delaware Public Media, tackling stories on water quality, climate change and the poultry industry. Before that, I cut my teeth at a newspaper in northern Utah, where I covered local government and education. I am originally from a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut.
You can contact me at kpeikes@iowapublicradio.org or through Twitter @kpeikes.
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Drought across the Midwest and the Plains means pastures aren’t as green as usual, leaving cattle with less to eat. Hay is in high demand and low supply. -
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has hit the U.S. hard over the last year and a half — leaving 60 million chickens and turkeys dead across 47 states. The USDA is working on a vaccine, but that could create new issues. -
Raw milk sales will soon be legal in Iowa, joining most of Midwest. But health experts offer cautionIowa is the latest state to legalize the sale of raw milk, which comes directly from cows without any pasteurization. While nearly every Midwestern state allows such sales, some health experts caution there are health risks to drinking it. -
Three companies want to capture carbon dioxide from Midwestern ethanol plants, transport it by pipeline and store it underground. Many in the ethanol industry claim it’s essential to the industry’s survival. Environmentalists and even farmers argue the pipelines are a boon for the industry — not a real solution for climate change. -
Mexico’s plan to ban all genetically modified corn imports has upset U.S. corn farmers, trade groups and officials. The two nations are in talks and have until April 7 to resolve it before the U.S. can take action under the free trade agreement between North American countries. -
Emergency allotments that took effect in 2020 for those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will end next month. Many expect the decrease will be especially challenging for low-income families. -
Genetically modified foods have been on supermarket shelves since the 1990s, but they’ve only required a label for the last year. The USDA says implementation and compliance with the program have been “successful,” while experts suggest consumers aren’t noticing the labels. -
States, local governments and internet providers have until Friday, Jan. 13 to challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map. The map shows where service is and isn’t across the country. -
Midwesterners are becoming more familiar with derechos after two major storms hit the region in as many years. Scientists are grappling with how to define the storms, gather data and predict what the future of derechos will look like. -
Surveys say the price of Thanksgiving dinner, including turkey, is up this year. Economists attribute the price increase largely to inflation. While experts say there’s no shortage of turkeys, 8 million birds have died or been culled this year because of a viral disease.
