Agriculture

Matters relating to agriculture, including farming and agribusiness.

Read more about the article Feeding the world proves to be a growing challengeDarrell Hoemann/The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Feeding Nine Billion: A Path to Sustainable Agriculture keynote speaker Andrew Revkin, New York Times columnist, Pace Academy: “Peak food?”on Tuesday, September 30, 2014.

Feeding the world proves to be a growing challenge

By Claire Everett/CU-CitizenAccess.org -- More than 300 researchers from around the world gathered at the University of Illinois this week for a major conference…

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Read more about the article Farming among the country’s deadliest jobsDon McMasters/for The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Firefighters practice placing a rescue tube during grain bin rescue training at the Danville Bunge facility on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013.

Farming among the country’s deadliest jobs

Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers ranked in the top 10 for highest fatality rates by occupation last year.

Additionally, the “agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting” industry category was – again – the country’s deadliest industry, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics findings released on Monday. The findings show that the broad agriculture industry category was nearly seven times deadlier than the typical job.

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Read more about the article One community garden provides more than fruits and vegetables
Two vacant lots have been turned into gardens and provide affordable produce to area residents. Spring 2014.

One community garden provides more than fruits and vegetables

By Karyna Rodriguez/For CU-CitizenAccess.org -- One person can make a difference. Nicole Bridges embodies that statement more than almost anyone I’ve ever met. Nicole…

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Read more about the article A Second Chance: After life-changing injury, farmer-turned-researcher now teaches others about agricultural dangersDarrell Hoemann
A young Chip Petrea with his modified tractor after his accident in this undated photo. Photo credit: Petrea family

A Second Chance: After life-changing injury, farmer-turned-researcher now teaches others about agricultural dangers

Robert “Chip” Petrea was trying to feed damp yellow hay into a red baler on a wet Sunday afternoon in 1978, but the machine refused to pick it up. Petrea was working in a low-lying field that frequently flooded. A storm was headed toward the 89-acre dairy farm located just outside Iuka in south-central Illinois, and he knew that the already soggy hay would be ruined by the coming rain if he could not find a way to get it to bale.

Continue ReadingA Second Chance: After life-changing injury, farmer-turned-researcher now teaches others about agricultural dangers
Read more about the article OSHA aims to prevent ‘needless deaths’Don McMasters/For The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Firefighters practice placing a rescue tube during grain bin rescue training at the Danville Bunge facility, Sept. 17, 2013.

OSHA aims to prevent ‘needless deaths’

The deadliest year for grain-bin workers on record was 2010, when at least 26 workers died throughout the country, according to grain-bin entrapment data from Purdue University. There were more than 50 total incidents that year.

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