All FERN Articles
Scientists warned this weedkiller would destroy crops. EPA approved it anyway.
Every August, Andrew Joyce used to hunker down in the field beside his house, picking juicy, ripe tomatoes in the blazing sun. He’d load them onto his golf cart, along with buckets of okra, squash and other summer crops, and zip over to the farm stand he runs with his wife, Sara, off a two-lane… » Read More
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300,000 users a monthReveal
These races will make or break the Blue Wave in farm country
President Donald Trump, who has recently been tossing out hats emblazoned with Make our Farmers Great Again! in John Deere green and yellow, brought his roadshow to Fargo, North Dakota, twice this summer. Both occasions were to stump for Kevin Cramer, who is running for Senate against Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp in one of the… » Read More
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Can Jess King flip the farmers of Lancaster County?
It has been — to put it lightly — a tough year for the country’s farmers. Low commodity prices and President Trump’s trade war have slashed farm income; for many struggling farms, these latest hits have pushed them to the brink of shutting down. Advocates say that a federal bailout designed to help farmers through… » Read More
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An Iowa Democrat hopes to win over farmers in a conservative Republican district
Update, Nov. 1, 2018: J.D. Scholten, who won the Democratic primary for the 4th district seat, is now in a close race with Rep. Steve King, who has gotten national attention for his virulent anti-immigrant views and for his support on social media of white supremacists. On a rainy Wednesday afternoon in May, a half-dozen… » Read More
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Mother Jones8 million monthly readers
‘Every Day You Become More Desperate’
José Ramón Campos López, a 40-year-old farmer from San Carlos Lempa, El Salvador, stares out at his two acres of land. It’s August, harvest time. The field should be full of tall, vibrant corn stalks. Instead, it’s full of weeds, but for a small patch of corn on the edge of the plot that managed… » Read More
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More than 80 million unique users a monthThe Weather Channel
A year after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico’s farmers claw back
It’s been a year since hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, leaving the U.S. territory devastated and its farms in ruins. Luis Pinto, a plantain farmer, remembers the night the storm hit. More on this story This audio report ran at “On the Table,” a Podcast about the farm bill produced by NET. A shorter version… » Read More
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India is awash in palm oil, and health takes a hit
Dr. Anoop Misra drew back the flimsy curtain in his office, and the patient stepped down from the exam table, gently tugging the bottom of his shirt so as to obscure a considerable midsection. “I’m not here to give you sweet words,” said the soft-spoken endocrinologist, who, in addition to seeing patients six days a… » Read More
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1.3 million monthly readersThe Nation
After a century’s absence, a glimmer of possibility for a native New York salmon
Fishing is all about longing. The angler wading into the center of the Fisherman’s Pool in the town of Willsboro expressed that longing again and again, fishless cast after fishless cast. But Zach Eisenhauer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who was methodically dragging a net around that same pool from the stern of… » Read More
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40,000 print circulationAdirondack Life
What is the farm bill and why does it matter?
Every five years or so, Congress takes up a massive piece of legislation known as the farm bill, which covers everything from supporting farmers to ensuring that those short of food don’t go hungry. The cost of the bill is nearly $100 billion a year. Right now, Congress is in the middle of the farm-bill… » Read More