farming

In Texas, cotton is king. But what happens if farmers can no longer come back from financial blows?

The massive legislation extends tax cuts and increases safety nets for farmers who grow commodities, like corn, wheat and rice. But deep cuts to federal food assistance spending could hurt specialty growers who benefit from programs like Double Up Food Bucks.

On a bus tour, conservation advocates encourage producers to look at new practices to improve soil health.

Across much of the Midwest, the atmosphere is becoming warmer and retaining more water, leading to heavier downpours. A two-crop system called relay intercropping could help farmers buffer weather whiplash and boost profits.

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.

Lawmakers also continued funding for a farmer suicide prevention hotline.

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.

Detections of new world screwworms, a flesh-eating maggot, have grown in recent years in South America. As the federal government works to prevent the pests' spread, Oklahoma officials are rolling out a response.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled a couple of programs providing tribal governments, states, schools and food banks money to buy locally produced food. Some farmers involved in the projects are looking to pivot their operations.