Amy Mayer
Reporter, Harvest Public MediaAmy Mayer is a reporter based in Ames. She covers agriculture and is part of the Harvest Public Media collaboration. Amy worked as an independent producer for many years and also previously had stints as weekend news host and reporter at WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts and as a reporter and host/producer of a weekly call-in health show at KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska. Amy’s work has earned awards from SPJ, the Alaska Press Club and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island AP. Her stories have aired on NPR news programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition and on Only A Game, Marketplace and Living on Earth. She produced the 2011 documentary Peace Corps Voices, which aired in over 160 communities across the country and has written for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Real Simple and other print outlets. Amy served on the board of directors of the Association of Independents in Radio from 2008-2015.
Amy has a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from Wellesley College and a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
Amy’s favorite public radio program is The World.
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During the Obama administration, the unofficial motto for many farmers was "feed the nine billion." When the Trump administration took office, the message shifted to "trade not aid." -
An Iowa farmer is using YouTube and a new invention to bring back an old-fashioned style of agriculture. -
The demand for free meals increased dramatically during this pandemic summer. In June, Illinois served almost 11 million free meals, more than seven times the 2019 figure. Iowa served more than four times as many meals this June as last year. -
Grain elevators dot the Midwest landscape, but many of them are no longer used for their original purpose. -
Climate change and the environmental damage caused by large-scale agriculture have researchers across the country searching for ways to increase productivity without causing more damage. -
Consider humble ground beef, the stuff of hamburgers, meatballs, chili and pasta sauce. The fattier meat usually costs less, but the global pandemic has made ground beef prices anything but usual. -
Some experts worried millions of hogs would never make it into the food supply, but so far, farmers have largely avoided having to take extreme measures. -
Industry leaders have warned that shoppers may soon have a hard time finding meat at the grocery store, but it is farmers who are most likely to bear the brunt of closures. -
Veterinary labs routinely test for diseases using the same equipment as medical labs, and now that equipment is being used to screen for the new coronavirus. -
After the day’s meals are done on a recent Tuesday, Gilbert Community Schools director of food service Deb Purcell shuffles through a stack of papers....
