Harvest Public Media

The United States government promised the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation about 1,280 acres of Illinois reservation in an 1829 treaty. Instead, the U.S sold all of it illegally to white settlers. The Prairie Band is now the latest tribe in the Midwest and Great Plains to get some of their ancestral home back.

The Trump administration cut off nearly all funding for food and agricultural research at universities across the country as part of the Feed the Future Initiative. While some hope Congress will restore the funding, the global research continues on a much smaller scale, funded by private donors and individual universities.

After the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp, THC products made from the plant have grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Now, more state and federal lawmakers are working to limit or ban the products.

New World screwworms used to be a constant concern for ranchers, until they were eradicated from the U.S. in the 1960s. Now that they’re on their way back, those who remember dealing with them have warnings about their impact.

While the U.S. pork industry has grown significantly in the past two decades, producers have struggled to make a profit in recent years. Industry leaders are looking for new markets abroad and at home.

The FBI and Department of Justice hailed the arrests and charges as crucial in protecting national security and public safety. Researchers say the fungus is found in wheat and barley crops and is commonly studied.

The Centers for Agricultural Safety and Health have provided resources to farmers for decades. But heads of the regional research programs say their federal funding for on-farm studies and training will abruptly end this fall.

Black vultures have a reputation for killing newborn livestock, which can be a problem for ranchers in the Great Plains and Midwest. Legislation efforts aim to remove permit requirements for farmers to shoot or capture the birds.

Farmers continued to take on more debt through the first quarter of 2025, prolonging a trend from last year. That’s as farm incomes have shrunk over the last couple of years, and some worry President Trump’s tariffs could make economic conditions tougher.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a 40-year-old wetlands law that allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture to withhold subsidies from farmers who clear, drain or convert wetlands.