Agriculture

Fewer farmers are planting hemp across the Midwest and Great Plains. The decline is most acute in hemp grown for its oils, like CBD, but experts say there’s greater opportunity in industrial hemp.

As the country tries to meet its climate goals, tackling emissions from farming will be key. One climate-smart agriculture strategy sequesters carbon while recycling agricultural waste and improving soil.

The flu has been found in cows for the first time, but most cattle seem to be showing only mild symptoms and recovering from the illness. Officials say the pasteurization process means milk remains safe.

Greenfield Robotics, a Kansas-based company, is hoping to move agriculture away from herbicides. They’ve developed robots to take on a labor-intensive process — cutting weeds down.

Last year it cost more to raise a hog than it brought in at sale. This year is looking slightly better so far for pork production, but input costs—such as energy and labor—remain high.

Michigan is now the latest state in the Midwest and Great Plains to confirm an outbreak of bird flu in dairy cattle. Federal officials say the risk to human health remains low.

Student membership in the agriculture organization FFA is at an all-time high, yet the average age of farmers is rising and there are fewer farms in the U.S. than ever before. What do these shifting populations say about the future of agriculture?

For the first time in three years, honey yields rose across the United States. It’s good news in an industry facing headwinds.

Cockfighting, the practice of fighting roosters, has been around for centuries. In the U.S. it’s a federal crime and illegal in all 50 states. But in Oklahoma, there’s an effort to lower the penalties for cockfighting that breeders say simply protects their right to raise roosters, while animal rights groups are calling foul.

Biosolids — a type of treated sewage byproduct from wastewater treatment plants — are used as a nutrient-rich fertilizer on farms across the Midwest. But a group of toxic “forever chemicals” are slipping through the cracks and could be inadvertently contaminating millions of acres of farmland.