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WEBSep 25, 2024 · Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest August 19, 2024. Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public interest by exposing dangerous and costly practices of influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism.
Pillen’s Rise: After building pork empire, Nebraska’s governor …
WEBAug 31, 2023 · Key takeaways: * Ethics experts said the best way to avoid appearances of conflicts of interest is for public officials to sell their business interests. Pillen's most recent financial disclosure, from March, showed he's invested in about 40 companies. He has not said whether he's sold his interests. * In the years before becoming governor, […]
Bayer notches win in Roundup litigation - Investigate Midwest
WEBAug 19, 2024 · Bayer, the German conglomerate, won a legal victory last week in the long-running litigation over whether its popular Roundup pesticide has caused cancer. The case started in 2019, when a husband and wife in Pennsylvania sued Monsanto, which Bayer purchased in 2018, and alleged the company had violated state law by not including a …
The top 5 things to know about groundwater depletion in …
WEBJun 6, 2024 · Here are five major takeaways from this story: State water officials have long warned of the Ogallala Aquifer’s decline. Access to the aquifer significantly increased in the 1950s but state officials quickly cautioned that the groundwater could one day run out. A 1975 Oklahoma Water Resources Board study warned, “a sizable deficit (will ...
Tyson Foods is being investigated by the USDA
WEBAug 16, 2024 · A Tyson Plant on West Olrich Street in Rogers, Arkansas, on June 28, 2020. photo by Spencer Tirey, for Investigate Midwest. The Packers and Stockyard Division is actively investigating Tyson Foods, one of the largest meat companies in the nation, according to interviews with contract growers and a USDA employee.
GRAPHIC: Chicken prices continue to rise, costing U.S. consumers …
WEBOct 12, 2023 · The price of chicken products on grocery store shelves continues to rise, even as major producers close plants across the country. The cost-per-pound of a whole chicken has increased by roughly 34% from August 2021 to August 2023, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. This translates to an additional 50 cents per […]
How a handful of Iowa towns thrive, rise above rural decline
WEBAug 17, 2021 · The population in Audubon, in western Iowa, has dropped from 2,382 in 2000 and 2,176 in 2010 to 2,053 in 2020. All of Audubon County only has 5,674 residents, down from 6,119 in the 2010 census. Yet, Audubon opened a $2.6 million community center in November 2018 and, already, volunteers for the non-profit center are planning a $2 …
GRAPHIC: Agribusiness spent a record-breaking $165 million on …
WEBFeb 16, 2023 · Agriculture companies and industry groups spent more than $165 million to lobby Congress last year, according to data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that collects information on money in politics. The OpenSecrets data goes back to 1998. Since then, lobbying spending by the agriculture sector had previously peaked at around $154 …
GRAPHIC: Large farms lead in energy development payments
WEBAug 27, 2024 · About 3.5% of all farms have leased land for energy development, and the average annual payment in 2020 was $30,000, according to the USDA. (2020 was the latest year data was available.) The USDA said the energy payments contribute “substantially to farm household income” and often exceed government subsidies to these farms.
South Hamilton, like other rural Iowa schools, takes on what-ifs of ...
WEBJan 4, 2021 · Jewell, Iowa – At 3:20 p.m. on a Monday, a voice booms through the public address speakers at South Hamilton School. “Everybody mask up.” A reminder of how much changed this school year. The South Hamilton district — 700 pre-K through 12th-grade students from the rural towns of Ellsworth, Randall, Stanhope and Jewell in the …