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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Pork industry groups and the state of California squared off before the U.S. Supreme Court over a state law that the pork industry says could force widespread change in hog production if it’s upheld.
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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case this month over whether California overreached with an animal welfare law which regulates housing requirements for pigs if the pork will be sold in the state. Two large pork industry groups say that burdens pork producers outside of California.
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Farmers explore and demo the latest technology in agriculture at the Farm Progress Show each year. But challenges like high input prices this year weigh into the decisions farmers are making about buying new things.
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Across the Midwest, farmland prices have risen sharply from last year, in part because of high commodity prices and a global food shortage. The highly competitive market, which often includes investors, can make it difficult for young farmers to grow their businesses.
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Farmers across much of the Corn Belt got a late start planting their corn this year. July could make or break this year’s crop. A poor harvest could fuel inflation and have a ripple effect for consumers.
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Nearly 5.5 million chickens and turkeys have died or had to be destroyed in Buena Vista County, Iowa, during the latest bird flu outbreak — more than in any other county in the nation. That’s impacted producers, as well as workers and their families.
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The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has awarded nearly $3 million dollars in grants to plant cover crops in six Midwestern states The funding comes as demand for state and federal incentive programs for cover crops often outpaces available funding.
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Farmers in the Midwest are gearing up for a fight over whether pipelines can cut through their land. Many look to the experience other farmers had with the Dakota Access Pipeline a few years ago.
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Taxpayers spent nearly $40 billion on crop insurance premiums between 2001 and 2020 across a 13-state region that includes Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and South Dakota, according to a new report from the Environmental Working Group.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the top 10 importers of U.S. poultry have put some restrictions in place — largely banning chicken and turkey products from specific counties or regions in the U.S. Seven years ago, several countries banned poultry from the entire U.S. because of a bird flu outbreak.