Iowa

Emergency allotments that took effect in 2020 for those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will end next month. Many expect the decrease will be especially challenging for low-income families.

Midwesterners are becoming more familiar with derechos after two major storms hit the region in as many years. Scientists are grappling with how to define the storms, gather data and predict what the future of derechos will look like.

Pork industry groups and the state of California squared off before the U.S. Supreme Court over a state law that the pork industry says could force widespread change in hog production if it’s upheld.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case this month over whether California overreached with an animal welfare law which regulates housing requirements for pigs if the pork will be sold in the state. Two large pork industry groups say that burdens pork producers outside of California.

Mount Rushmore and the Great Lakes are a couple of the Midwest’s tourism magnets, but some states have to work against their reputations to attract visitors. They’re getting creative by highlighting amenities that can be a bit off the beaten path.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources documents show workers at a manure digester in northwest Iowa noted a drop in the digester’s tank but didn’t investigate the issue further. The digester leaked roughly 376,000 gallons of manure water into nearby creeks.

Farmers across much of the Corn Belt got a late start planting their corn this year. July could make or break this year’s crop. A poor harvest could fuel inflation and have a ripple effect for consumers.

Nearly 5.5 million chickens and turkeys have died or had to be destroyed in Buena Vista County, Iowa, during the latest bird flu outbreak — more than in any other county in the nation. That’s impacted producers, as well as workers and their families.

Water utilities have never been required to thoroughly inventory lead pipes except in a crisis. Health experts warn problems with these “underground poisonous straws” can arise out of the blue.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has awarded nearly $3 million dollars in grants to plant cover crops in six Midwestern states The funding comes as demand for state and federal incentive programs for cover crops often outpaces available funding.

State legislatures around the country have been trying to prevent transgender girls and women from competing with their peers. How that's playing out in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska depends on politics and people.

State officials and scientists are cautioning backyard flock owners to be on high alert for bird flu. The highly contagious disease has reached small flocks in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.