Harvest Public Media

Who's on the hook for nearly $17 billion paid to farmers?

Donna Vestal — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:45:36 +0000

Nearly $17 billion has been paid out to farmers in crop insurance indemnities to cover the losses from the catastrophic drought of 2012, the government reported this week.

Taxing complications for farmers and an April 15 deadline

Amy Mayer — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:14:09 +0000

This tax season is an unusual one for farmers.

Generic seeds could have a short lifespan

Grant Gerlock — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:15:18 +0000

The patent rights on the first genetically modified seeds expire next year, but it’s not clear how the introduction of “generic” seeds fits into the science and business of GM crops.

The seeds of genetic modification

Amy Mayer — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:26:58 +0000

The vast majority of the corn and soybeans in United States grow from seeds that have been genetically modified. The technology is barely 30 years old and the controversy surrounding it somewhat younger. But how did it even become possible?

Drought raises stakes on Republican River

GRANT GERLOCK — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 05:12:55 +0000

There’s a border war going in the Midwest and it’s over water. Kansas and Nebraska have been battling for years over the water in the Republican River, which runs from Colorado to Kansas, through Nebraska.

My Farm Roots: Entrusted with a legacy

Camille Phillips/Harvest Public Media — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:40:24 +0000

Down a stretch of rural highway and country roads lined with fields, about an hour south of Lincoln, Neb., lies the Dorn family farm. That’s where Nathan Dorn grew up, where his grandfather farmed before him and where his father, uncles and cousin now farm beside him.

Dorn’s strong ties to the land made the decision to continue the family tradition of farming an easy one. But it also leaves him feeling misunderstood by the average American.

My Farm Roots: From pastime to passion

Hilary Stohs-Krause — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:26:06 +0000

Aaron Troester’s life both did, and didn’t, turn out exactly the way he planned.

The 29-year-old farmer in the north-central Nebraska town of O’Neill was pouring honey into jars from bees he keeps when I met him. I soon learned he had a chemistry degree and had planned to go to medical school, but the lure of the land he farms with his father changed his mind.

My Farm Roots: Grateful to be home

Frank Morris/ Harvest Public Media — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 06:50:28 +0000

Rose Alderson is a bright-eyed, energetic grandmother who loves her home a few miles outside of Nickerson, Kan. It’s the home her father was raised in and where she raised her kids, but the house is not the most important part of the Alderson place.

Alderson loves the barn and the silo. Neither building plays much of a role on the farm anymore, but to Rose, they are the soul of the place.

Markets woo wary farmers

Jeremy Bernfeld/Harvest Public Media — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:30:09 +0000

Faith in the commodities markets took another big hit this week after regulators alleged that Iowa futures firm Peregrine Financial Group had falsified its bank records – to the tune of, oh, 200 million dollars. This, after the big MF Global disaster in the fall.
Many farmers and ranchers depend on those markets to help manage the risk of running a business that depends on Mother Nature.
But when customer money starts vanishing, can you blame farmers and ranchers for being a little skittish?