Harvest Public Media
Harvest Public Media is a reporting collaboration focused on issues of food, fuel and field. Based at KCUR in Kansas City, Harvest covers these agriculture-related topics through an expanding network of reporters and partner stations throughout the Midwest. Global demand for food and fuel is rising, and the push and pull for resources has serious ramifications for our country’s economic prosperity. What’s more, we all eat, so we all have a stake in how our food is produced In the Midwest, in particular, today’s emerging agenda for agriculture is headlined by climate change, food safety, biofuel production, animal welfare, water quality, and sustainability. By examining these local, regional and national issues and their implications with in-depth and unbiased reporting, Harvest is filling a critical information void. Most Harvest Public Media stories begin with radio — regular reports are aired on our member stations in the Midwest. But Harvest also explores issues through online analyses, television documentaries and features, podcasts, photography, video, blogs and social networking. We are committed to the highest journalistic standards. Click here to read our ethics policy.
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Agricultural producers and others working in the field have tried many approaches to tell their stories to urban and suburban consumers. With a new president coming, ag industry messaging may change again.
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Republicans and Democrats have very different opinions on what they want from the next Secretary of Agriculture but President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is a compromise choice that is making both sides angry.
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With passenger numbers down and industry-wide layoffs, smaller airports such as those dotting the Midwest are taking a serious financial hit.
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Johnson County recently embarked on an ambitious prairie restoration project. In the last four years, 300 acres of soybean fields have been converted to tallgrass prairie at Big Bull Creek Park in Edgerton, Kansas
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Business has been booming for many rural grocery stores since the pandemic hit. Owners and operators of those stores are hoping their new customers stick around long after coronavirus travel restrictions are lifted and product shortages ease.
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COVID-19 outbreaks have idled some meatpacking plants. And, pork processing fell nearly 40% across the Midwest in April. Now, pressure is mounting for regulators to investigate whether the big meat companies have engaged in unfair business practices.
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Until recently, there were no codified federal or state pandemic safety guidelines for meatpackers. Now that many meatpacking plants are COVID-19 hotspots, companies and local health officials are scrambling to contain the outbreaks.
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Two rural Iowa school districts are bringing breakfast and lunch right to kids sequestered at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Hemp farmers need to be sure that their crop stays under 0.3 percent THC, the chemical that gives marijuana its psychoactive effect. If it’s over that legal limit, the crop will be destroyed.
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Before landing on your plate, fish and seafood ate a high-protein diet. And farmers in the Midwest grow a lot of protein... like corn and soybeans. But entrepreneurs who are trying to raise fish and shrimp in the central U.S. aren’t using those local soybeans. Find out why in this report from Harvest Public Media.