farmers

Ladi Adaikwu, right, and her business partner, Musa Ogbeba, run one of the few high-quality seed yam shops in central Nigeria.

World News

Scientists Try To Break Nigeria's Cycle Of Replanting Bad Yams

7:00am June 26, 2017

by Tim McDonnell

The tubers are essential to the country's economy and culture, but their quality keeps declining. Now, researchers have found a way to mass produce good seed yams — and it could save the industry.

Mueller plans to build his chicken barns in this cornfield just south of his home. His barns would house "breeders," the hens that lay the eggs that will hatch to be raised for meat.

National

Farmers Take Out Millions In Loans To Raise Chickens For Big-Box Retailers

4:08pm June 22, 2017

by Grant Gerlock

To slaughter 2 million birds per week, Costco is contracting poultry farmers. But this requires a major financial investment from small producers, and the payoff may not be guaranteed.

The Agriculture Department established research centers in 2014 to translate climate science into real-world ideas to help farmers and ranchers adapt to a hotter climate. But a tone of skepticism about climate change from the Trump administration has some

Will The Government Help Farmers Adapt To A Changing Climate?

8:50am May 18, 2017

by Luke Runyon

The livelihoods of farmers and ranchers are intimately tied to weather and the environment. But they may no longer be able to depend on government research to help them adapt to climate change.

Girindra Nath Jha returned to his boyhood village of Chanka. Now he's teaching farming and English — and he's started a writer's retreat.

Big City Escapee Is Living In A Mud Hut — And Loving It

5:18pm April 17, 2017

by Deepak Singh

Most young people in the tiny Indian village of Chanka dream of life in the big city. But Girindra Nath Jha give up his New Delhi life to return to his birthplace.

Farmers are lobbying for the ability to buy software to fix their equipment, and some are hacking their way around the problem.

National

Farmers Look For Ways To Circumvent Tractor Software Locks

6:18pm April 09, 2017

by Grant Gerlock

Fixing a modern tractor takes more than the right parts, but also the right software. Farmers are lobbying for the ability to buy that software, and some are hacking their way around the problem.

Queue Listen Now

Darvin Bentlage is a fourth-generation farmer from Golden City, Mo. He was uninsured before the ACA and featured in a video from the Department of Health and Human Services supporting the law.

Medical Bills Once Made Him Refinance The Farm. Could It Happen Again?

8:14am March 12, 2017

by Bram Sable-Smith, KBIA

Barton County, Mo. is Trump country. And this rural area also has big problems when it comes to health care. One farmer says he has a lot to lose under the Republican replacement plan.

Taylor Hutchinson says having subsidized health care costs has been critical to being able to start a farm with her partner, Jake Mendell.

Health Insurance Woes Add To The Risky Business Of Farming

7:00am February 21, 2017

by Kathleen Masterson

There are many challenges to farming: It's often grueling work that relies on unpredictable factors such as weather and global market prices. But one aspect that's often ignored: health care costs.

Green tips of of a newly developed grain called Salish Blue are poking through older, dead stalks in Washington's Skagit Valley.

Don't Call It Wheat: An Environmentally Friendly Grain Takes Root

7:00am February 08, 2017

by Eilís O'Neill

Researchers have developed a new wheat-like species called Salish Blue that grows back year after year, which not only cuts down on work for farmers, but helps prevent erosion and agricultural waste.

Washu chocolate is made from cacao arriba, a sought-after variety of cacao harvested in Ecuador.

Save The Monkeys, Save The Trees, Sell The Chocolate

1:53pm January 30, 2017

by April Fulton

An enterprise-minded ecologist from England is helping endangered brown-headed spider monkeys in Ecuador by connecting their preservation to high-end chocolate.

Farmers and chefs looking for their perfect match at Bluejacket, a restaurant and brewery in Washington, D.C.

National

'Speed Dating' For Farmers And Chefs: ISO A Perfect Local-Food Match

1:16pm January 24, 2017

by Dan Charles

Farmers are shy; chefs are ferocious. But they need each other to put local food on restaurant tables. A "speed-dating" event in Washington, D.C. matches farmers with chefs, aided by free beer.

Queue Listen Now