Michael Marks
Producer and Reporter, Texas Standard/The Texas NewsroomI cover rural issues and agriculture for Harvest Public Media and the Texas Standard, a daily newsmagazine that airs on the state’s NPR stations. Before that, I reported for the San Antonio Current and the Dallas Morning News.
Although my high school’s mascot was the Fighting Farmers, I grew up in the north Texas suburbs. Reporting in rural Texas, I’ve told stories about the impact of invasive plants and animals, recovery after storms like Hurricane Harvey, and folks like Wiz Khalifa’s former tour manager, who now raises beef cattle in central Texas.
You can reach me at mmarks@kut.org if you’d like to get in touch.
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A Texas pecan farmer spent years rethinking whether he needed so many chemicals to grow food. He cut back on things like weedkillers, but when it came to ditching insecticides, crop pests posed a challenge. That’s what brought him together with a famous bat scientist — who helped him build an insect-eating army of bats. -
Since its launch in 2022, the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has responded to nearly 13 million calls. But many states have been slow to spend their own dollars on the program. -
An invasive insect called the rice delphacid was a major problem for some farmers in 2025. With low prices for their crop and a high cost of doing business, many are wondering how they’ll make a profit in 2026. -
Equine herpesvirus can spread easily and debilitate an animal. A recent outbreak canceled several events across the country, but animal health authorities say cases seem to be easing. -
Cottonseeds could help reduce hunger and add new revenue for farmers. One researcher has been working for decades to make edible seeds a reality. -
Food bank staff expect a wave of new demand as millions of Americans are set to lose federal food assistance in November. But they insist that their services alone won’t be enough to feed everyone who relies on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. -
Bats love to munch on insects like stink bugs and moths. Some farmers are now relying on the mammals for pest control – and ditching chemicals. -
The quarterly Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade used to include data tables of imports and exports, plus a written analysis. But the last two reports have only included the data, leaving readers to do guesswork on the trends behind the numbers. -
Beef prices have hit record highs, yet American consumers haven’t stopped buying it. A look at what’s behind the steep price increase and when they might come down. -
Farmers who were promised funding through the federal Regional Food Business Centers have been left in limbo after the Trump administration shut down the program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will honor grants the program already approved, but it’s unclear when.
