farming

Despite the postmaster general resigning, a plan to cut back services will move forward this year.

Farms and non-profits around Kansas City have recently lost, or could lose, grant funding from the USDA under the Trump Administration. Despite facing financial uncertainty, urban growers plan to continue fighting food insecurity.

The Trump administration’s tariff announcements this week are bringing uncertainty to farmers going into planting season. Farm groups warn that retaliatory tariffs will add an additional “burden” to U.S. producers.

Farmers, nonprofits and state agencies received almost $3 billion in grants from the Inflation Reduction Act in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. But recent federal funding freezes have recipients concerned they won’t end up receiving money.

The Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council in Kansas City recently learned its three-year, $165,000 grant from the USDA to expand its farmers market had been revoked because of President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting diversity and environmental justice programs.

Federal agencies have mandated and facilitated testing for the H5N1 virus to try to protect birds, cows and humans; researchers in the Midwest hope those efforts continue under the new presidential administration.

Although it's now on hold, The Trump Administration's move to stop foreign food aid shut off a market that farmers have relied on for 70 years. It has triggered a Republican push to resurrect the "Food for Peace" program.

Foreign investors owned about 46 million acres of U.S. farmland in 2023 — which is less than 4% of all American farmland, according to a recent report. The data comes as more states consider limiting foreign ownership of agricultural land.

The one-time payments could offer short-term support as many farmers grapple with less income and extreme weather.

The price of beef is at all-time highs, but a major policy initiative of the incoming Trump Administration could drive them higher. In an industry that's already strapped for workers, mass deportations could put some ranchers and feedlots out of business.

Christmas Ranch Tree Farm in Excelsior Springs has been a destination for generations of families in the Kansas City area every holiday season — but it takes a lot of work. Plus: It's now a lot easier to find out what your Kansas City neighborhood looked like in 1940, thanks to the public library.

Hundreds of families come to Christmas Ranch Tree Farm in Excelsior Springs every year to decorate their homes for Christmas. Owners Carol and Roy Freeman make sure visitors have everything they need, including tree trimming and homemade hot chocolate for the journey.