Matters relating to agriculture, including farming and agribusiness.

Read more about the article Central Illinois already seeing effects of climate changeAbigail Bobrow/For the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Julie Pryde, administrator of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, speaks at “Climate Change in Illinois: A community conversation”, sponsored by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, on Tuesday, November 29, at the Champaign Public Library.

Central Illinois already seeing effects of climate change

“We’re actually at the warmest part for the historical record for Illinois,” said State Climatologist Jim Angel, speaking to a crowd of about 60 at the Champaign Public Library on Tuesday. “This is a different climate for what our parents, grandparents or great grandparents would’ve experienced in Illinois.”

Continue ReadingCentral Illinois already seeing effects of climate change
Read more about the article Illinois could see effects of climate change as soon as 2020Darrell Hoemann/Midwet Center For Investigative Reporting
University of Illinois professors Don Fullerton (left) and Julian Reif with a map used in their climate change research in November 2015.

Illinois could see effects of climate change as soon as 2020

July was the hottest month in recorded history. And continued increases in temperature and a shift in rain patterns could mean a 15 percent yield loss in the next five to 25 years and up to a 73 average yield loss by the end of the next century if farming patterns don’t change significantly, University of Illinois finance professors Don Fullerton and Julian Reif laid out in a report released from the Institute of Government and Public Affairs last year.

Continue ReadingIllinois could see effects of climate change as soon as 2020
Read more about the article Volatile market leads to lower crop insurance premiums for farmersPhoto by Darrell Hoemann/CU-CitizenAccess.org
A central Illinois farmer drives a tractor through his field during the early parts of spring planting 2016.

Volatile market leads to lower crop insurance premiums for farmers

Thanks to a drop in market volatility and grain prices, farmers may pay up to 10 percent less this year for crop insurance.

Continue ReadingVolatile market leads to lower crop insurance premiums for farmers
Read more about the article Blighted Housing: Inspections fail to stem poor conditions for migrant farmworkersPhoto by Darrell Hoemann/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Workers rest outside at the Nightingale camp in Rantoul, Ill., after a day's work in July 2014. The migrant farmworker housing is located on the former Chanute Air Force Base. The Illinois Department of Public Health lists the camp’s maximum occupancy at 450 workers.

Blighted Housing: Inspections fail to stem poor conditions for migrant farmworkers

An ongoing investigation by The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting has found the oversight of migrant housing is a fractured and ineffective system despite decades of reforms.

Continue ReadingBlighted Housing: Inspections fail to stem poor conditions for migrant farmworkers
Read more about the article Blighted Housing: A look inside eight migrant farmworker ‘camps’Photo by Darrell Hoemann/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
A bedroom for migrant farmworkers at the Nightingale facility in Rantoul, Ill., on July 29, 2014.

Blighted Housing: A look inside eight migrant farmworker ‘camps’

State inspection records highlight substandard conditions inside eight migrant farmworker housing sites.

Continue ReadingBlighted Housing: A look inside eight migrant farmworker ‘camps’
Read more about the article Blighted Housing: Visa program requires housing inspections for non-U.S. farmworkersPhoto by Darrell Hoemann/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
A resident walks down a hallway inside the Nightingale migrant labor camp in Rantoul, Ill., in July 2014. Companies in Illinois received approval for only five H-2A workers from October to December 2015.

Blighted Housing: Visa program requires housing inspections for non-U.S. farmworkers

Hundreds of migrant workers come to the United States from Mexico and other countries with special H-2A farm visas, but they make up only a fraction of the total number of migrant farmworkers.

Continue ReadingBlighted Housing: Visa program requires housing inspections for non-U.S. farmworkers
Read more about the article Blighted Housing: Much of Missouri migrant farmworker housing left out of inspection programPhoto by Robert Holly/Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Migrant farmworkers help plant, pick and process the food that ends up on kitchen tables. Under current Missouri policies, only housing for foreign migrant farmworkers with H-2A visas is required to undergo inspection.

Blighted Housing: Much of Missouri migrant farmworker housing left out of inspection program

The state and local agencies responsible for overseeing migrant farmworker housing vary from state to state. Here's a detailed look at how oversight works in Missouri.

Continue ReadingBlighted Housing: Much of Missouri migrant farmworker housing left out of inspection program
Read more about the article Controversial trade deal draws heavy lobbying from U.S. agribusinessDarrell Hoemann
A central Illinois farmer harvests his crop shortly before sundown on Sept. 24, 2015. U.S. agricultural exports reached a record level in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Controversial trade deal draws heavy lobbying from U.S. agribusiness

A new trade deal aimed at cutting thousands of taxes and opening markets with 11 Pacific Rim nations has drawn heavy lobbying from some of America’s largest agribusinesses. The deal – known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership – was reached in early October. It is designed to ease the flow of goods between partner nations by lowering restrictive trade policies and regulations.

Continue ReadingControversial trade deal draws heavy lobbying from U.S. agribusiness
Read more about the article Ag Secretary Vilsack announces major USDA biofuel investmentDarrell Hoemann
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, middle, listens to a researchers on Sept. 10, 2015. Vilsack was visiting the Energy Farm just south of Urbana, Ill. From left: German Bollero, head of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's crop science department; Tim Mies, director of the Energy Farm; Robert Hauser, ACES dean; Patrick Brown, assistant professor in plant breeding and genetics

Ag Secretary Vilsack announces major USDA biofuel investment

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced on Thursday that his department will award nearly two dozen states with millions of dollars to build the gas pumps and other infrastructure needed to supply American drivers with more renewable fuel.

Continue ReadingAg Secretary Vilsack announces major USDA biofuel investment