Investigate Midwest’s election coverage
Deportations, raids and visa access. How the presidential election could alter life for immigrant farmworkers.
The farmworkers scattered. There was a union representative in the workers’ employer-provided housing, on an orchard in upstate New York. Their employer, major apple grower Porpiglia Farms, had hired them on H-2A, or temporary labor, visas. That day in August…
Midwest farmers advocate for steady policies amid trade challenges
Just as he did in 2016 and 2020, Iowa farmer and rancher Lance Lillibridge plans to vote for Donald Trump this November. However, this self-described conservative said his vote for the former president will come with concerns. “His policies didn’t…
Harris’ and Trump’s contrasting plans for agriculture and climate change action
Hans Breitenmoser believes that regardless of a farmer’s political affiliation, everything comes down to the weather. “Whether you grow cows or grow corn or both, we live and die by the weather forecast,” said Breitenmoser, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from…
Anti-biosolid fertilizer candidate wins Oklahoma state House race
Republican voters in a central Oklahoma House district have ousted their high-ranking representative, who had drawn controversy for his use and support of sewage fertilizer on area farms. Rep. Kevin Wallace, who has represented the district for nearly a decade…
As ag consolidation grows, Harris and Trump pitch different approaches
In 1994, Greg Gunthorp’s father warned him and his wife against buying the family sow herd and breeding stock. The market was basically over for the independent producers, his father told him. The price of a pig sold on the…
Frustrated with poultry pollution, east Oklahoma candidate takes on incumbent and Tyson Foods
Editor’s note: Rep. David Hardin was reelected on Nov. 5 with 77% of the district’s vote. Driving down a two-lane country road in east Oklahoma, Anne Fite immediately recognized the large object about a mile away on the horizon. It…
coverage from partner publications
Minnesota Gov. Walz brings ag, biofuels background to Democratic ticket
Vice President Kamala Harris named Tim Walz her running mate on Tuesday.
Vance has little history in ag policy, but he has rural roots and a story
Former President Donald Trump tapped the Ohio senator to be his running mate in July.
Farm programs, USDA would shrink under Project 2025 goals for ag
Nearly everything in Project 2025’s agricultural chapter runs counter to the $1.5 trillion farm bill proposal the GOP-led House Agriculture Committee passed out of committee in May.
