The Deere strike will be felt throughout the agriculture industry

Nov 22, 2021
Higher wages for Deere workers will show up slightly in equipment prices —but that's only one of many costs farmers face.
Striking workers picket outside a John Deere facility in Iowa in October. Some have seen the strike as an example of workers' increased negotiating power.
Scott Olson via Getty Images

Farmers face rising fertilizer prices and supply constraints

Nov 11, 2021
A big reason fertilizer is through the roof? Still-climbing natural gas prices.
Natural gas prices are at historic highs, and natural gas accounts for up to 90% of the operating cost of producing fertilizer.
JackF via Getty Images

After years of setbacks, socially disadvantaged farmers get debt relief

Jun 10, 2021
Dewayne Goldmon of the Agriculture Department sees the aid as narrowing the economic gap between farmers of color and white farmers.
A federal program to provide aid to farmers of color was broadened by the recently-passed climate bill and now omits references to race.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Farmers in Texas still reeling from the February freeze

May 10, 2021
For some, insurance money is coming in, but according to one farmer, "it never makes you whole."
“Technically I've lost two crops," says Dale Murden, above in one of his citrus groves. "The one that was being harvested for the 2021 season, and now zero crop for the 2021/2022 season."
Andy Uhler/Marketplace

Push to vaccinate Latinx farmworkers picks up

Apr 12, 2021
As farm work, and COVID risk, pick up through the spring and summer, getting vaccines into the arms of workers is a priority.
Last year, as farm work picked up, COVID spread like wildfire in the crowded fruit-packing plants.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Washington apple farmer is "optimistic" as workers get vaccinated

“They are on the front lines of the food production industry in this country," said Patrick Smith, who runs Loftus Ranches.
"I’m really hopeful that when we get to our harvest season, globally, things are really looking up," says Patrick Smith, whose family runs Loftus Ranches, an apple and hops farm in Yakima, Washington.
Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images

Deep freeze has Texas ranchers concerned about food, water for cattle

Feb 18, 2021
The state is limiting natural gas to human resource use, like heating homes.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Don’t forget the garlic (industry)

Nov 24, 2020
Demand for garlic is up during the COVID pandemic as more people cook at home.
An employee at Christopher Ranch works with boxes of fresh garlic in Gilroy, California. Ken Christopher, Executive Vice President of Christopher Ranch says there’s been a surge in demand for fresh garlic as more families cook at home.
Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Farmers need to adapt crops to climate change to stay profitable, experts say

Oct 20, 2020
Climate change has arrived in American agriculture, and it could cause profits to drop 30% over the next 30 to 50 years.
Workers harvest zucchini on a farm in Florida City, Florida, in April. Climate change is shifting which crops farmers can grow — and when they can grow them.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Thanks to a good harvest and high prices, farmers are feeling optimistic

Oct 8, 2020
According to a Purdue University survey, they're feeling more positive than they have since the pandemic began.
Farm laborers harvest crops in Greenfield, California while wearing personal protective gear.
Brent Stirton/Getty Images