Eli Hoff, Investigate Midwest

Gary Marx Jounalism Fund Intern

Eli Hoff is a junior at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, majoring in journalism and minoring in Spanish and psychology. He’s covered state and local government for the Jefferson City News Tribune, sports for SB Nation and Major League Soccer, and previously served as the managing editor for The Maneater, Mizzou’s student newspaper. Originally from Minnesota, he’s currently trying to lose his accent to pronounce the “a” in Big Ag how everyone else does.

The Iowa Farm Bureau is a small nonprofit. It's sitting on a huge business empire.

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, the country’s most profitable farm bureau, influences most aspects of agricultural policy in the state. One profitable loan underscores how large and complex the organization has become.

By Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest, Eli Hoff, Investigate Midwest and Mark Ossolinski, Watchdog Writers Group

/ 7 Oct 2021

The Iowa Farm Bureau is a small nonprofit. It's sitting on a huge business empire.

‘Is this legal?’: Why an obscure data service has been sued nearly 100 times for facilitating anti-competitive behavior

The reports Agri Stats produces and shares with meat processing companies are so detailed they can be used to fix prices, according to numerous lawsuits.

By Eli Hoff, Investigate Midwest

/ 29 Jul 2021

‘Is this legal?’: Why an obscure data service has been sued nearly 100 times for facilitating anti-competitive behavior

GRAPHIC: Meat processing workers earn an average of $15.53 per hour, with state-level variation

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics shows meat processing workers were paid an average hourly wage of $15.53 in May 2020,

By Eli Hoff, Investigate Midwest

/ 21 Jul 2021

GRAPHIC: Meat processing workers earn an average of $15.53 per hour, with state-level variation

Trump ag secretary Sonny Perdue personally lobbied to keep meatpacking plants open during pandemic, emails show

It’s well-established that Trump administration officials wanted meatpacking plants to keep operating, often with industry pressure, as workers fell ill and died by the dozens. But new emails obtained by nonprofit Public Citizen show Perdue personally lobbying to keep plants open, including pressing

By Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest, Eli Hoff, Investigate Midwest and Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest

/ 2 Jul 2021

Trump ag secretary Sonny Perdue personally lobbied to keep meatpacking plants open during pandemic, emails show

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