Agriculture

Buried alive in Mongolia's worst sandstorms in a decade
Even the rescue teams could not go forward during one of the fiercest of many sandstorms this spring in Mongolia. Herders have lost their animals — an estimated 1.6 million livestock — and their lives.
USDA rejects request for faster pork slaughterhouse speeds
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declined a request by the pork industry to increase the speed at which pigs can be processed into meat, delivering a victory to slaughterhouse workers who had raised safety concerns about the plan.
Minnesota farmer wins appeal in Pineland Sands irrigation dispute case
The Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected arguments that Sebeka farmer Tim Nolte was acting as a front for R.D. Offutt Co. in seeking irrigation permits for 300 acres he bought from the giant potato-growing company. The court upheld the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources decision not to require an extensive environmental review for the irrigation project.
Black entrepreneurs sow seeds of healthier eating during pandemic gardening boom
Denver-based rapper DJ Cavem Moetavation started pushing beats and beets by distributing free seeds. Black-owned companies like his are trying to encourage more people of color to grow their own food.
Last year, some of the largest slaughterhouses in the region temporarily closed after COVID-19 outbreaks. Those closures meant local farmers faced the prospect of having nowhere to send their livestock for processing, and no way to get their food to market. An East Bethel, Minn., woman decided to do something to help.
Combating the ag industry's history of discriminatory practices
A lawsuit filed by a group of white farmers from the Midwest asks a federal court to declare a program that erases USDA loans for farmers from “socially disadvantaged groups” discriminatory and unconstitutional. But there's a long history of discrimination against women and people of color in agriculture — and the effects continue to impact the industry today.