Rachel Cramer
Reporter, Iowa Public RadioI cover agriculture, rural communities and environmental issues for Harvest Public Media, and I cover news from north-central Iowa as the Ames-based reporter for Iowa Public Radio.
Before returning to my home state, I was a reporter for Yellowstone Public Radio in Bozeman, Montana. Some of my favorite stories involved riding in pick-up trucks with farmers, hiking behind ecologists and chatting with Main Street business owners.
I learned how to cut tape and write for radio as a newscaster/reporter for Montana Public Radio and produced stories across the U.S. as a Crossing the Divide fellow with the GroundTruth Project in 2017.
I grew up on a small farm outside Guthrie Center, Iowa, and hold degrees from Iowa State University and the University of Montana.
You can reach me at rcramer@iowapublicradio.org.
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Virtual fencing uses GPS collars, sounds and electrical cues to move cattle across a landscape. Along with saving ranchers time, researchers say this new technology can help protect, and create, wildlife habitat. -
The American Heartland has experienced a boom in wineries over the last three decades. But with U.S. wine sales trending down since 2019, some producers are feeling the effects more than others. -
The Midwest has a reputation for vast fields of corn and soybeans that stretch to the horizon. But on some farms, strips of wildflowers and little bluestem now interrupt the crops, tiny glimpses of the prairie that once dominated the region. They’re an effort to hold back the fertilizer runoff that pollutes drinking water and then travels hundreds of miles downstream, where it fuels the Gulf of Mexico’s infamous Dead Zone. -
As part of the “Food Routes” series, Harvest Public Media explores three big factors that affect produce prices in the Midwest and Great Plains. -
Weeds are a challenge for every farmer. The annual Midwest Mechanical Weed Control Field Day showcases solutions beyond herbicides. -
The massive legislation extends tax cuts and increases safety nets for farmers who grow commodities, like corn, wheat and rice. But deep cuts to federal food assistance spending could hurt specialty growers who benefit from programs like Double Up Food Bucks. -
The CyberTractor Challenge is a weeklong event for university students to learn about cybersecurity for agricultural equipment. Experts say the threats are evolving and becoming more complex. -
Across much of the Midwest, the atmosphere is becoming warmer and retaining more water, leading to heavier downpours. A two-crop system called relay intercropping could help farmers buffer weather whiplash and boost profits. -
While the U.S. pork industry has grown significantly in the past two decades, producers have struggled to make a profit in recent years. Industry leaders are looking for new markets abroad and at home. -
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a 40-year-old wetlands law that allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture to withhold subsidies from farmers who clear, drain or convert wetlands.
