Agriculture

Wild rice growers worry about climate change hurting crops
With its rich, nutty and complex flavor, the wild rice that grows in Wisconsin and Minnesota is one of a kind. While many tribal and nontribal people are enjoying their annual pilgrimages to their favorite rice wetlands, others are concerned about the effects of climate change on this unique crop.
Small farmers challenge conventional agriculture in Pineland Sands
One farmer's plans to irrigate his land to grow crops has triggered a legal challenge by organic farmers and clean water advocates. They say traditional agriculture is not a good fit for the sandy soil, and they envision a different way of farming in this region.
Another COVID-19 ripple effect: Many meat processors booked up through deer season
As the fall hunting season prepares to ramp up this month, some local butchers and meat markets might have to turn their game customers away. Many processors are already operating at full capacity — a ripple effect of COVID-19 closures at major pork and beef processors this spring.
COVID-19 looms over sugarbeet harvest
Sugarbeet growers and processors hire thousands of workers each year of the harvest. This year they need to protect them from COVID-19 to ensure the harvest is brought in.
Fertilizer rules to start this week, but will they curb Minn. groundwater’s nitrate problem?
Starting this week, farmers in parts of Minnesota will face new restrictions on how they apply nitrogen fertilizer. The regulations are aimed at reducing nitrate contamination in the state's groundwater. But whether they'll have a real impact on a growing health and environmental problem is still up for debate.
'Make Farmers Black Again': African Americans fight discrimination to own farmland
There is a growing movement of young farmers led by people of color in the Northeast but barriers to accessing funding and land remain. The family behind Triple J Farm in Windsor, N.Y., knows this.