Harvest Public Media

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. 

While COVID-19 has hampered farmers this year by forcing many farmers markets and restaurants to close, usually it’s the weather that threatens crops. A...

Lexington, Nebraska, is just one of the many rural communities that has long dealt with food insecurity, but the global pandemic both intensified need in the town of 11,000 residents and presented new challenges in getting people food. 

With many state fairs across the country being canceled due to COVID-19, many small business owners will miss out on sales. States are hoping online sales can help make up the difference.

Mark Twain National Forest has launched an experiment: deploying herds of goats to eat kudzu and other problematic plants.

Grain elevators dot the Midwest landscape, but many of them are no longer used for their original purpose.

Amid the pandemic, shoppers saw beef prices spike, but ranchers weren’t seeing that money. Some critics claim meat processors are fixing the price of beef on both ends of the market.

Many people in rural areas have not filled out their census forms this year, and officials worry that already struggling small towns will miss out on money for the next decade.

An advocacy organization estimates there have been 3,000 cases of COVID-19 among migrant and seasonal farmworkers across 15 states.

More herbicides could face legal challenges in the coming years, but they were once a key player in the rise of modern industrialized growing systems.

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. 

Missouri saw a huge increase in hunting activity this turkey season. Almost 20,000 new hunters tried out the sport.