Talia Duffy is a student at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, where she is majoring in journalism and statistics. She has worked on the Daily Illini, the campus student newspaper. Duffy's internship is supported by the Gary Marx Journalism Fund.
Talia Duffy, Investigate Midwest
The National Pork Board gives more grant money than any other checkoff. Critics say it favors Big Pork.
The pork checkoff gave at least $17 million in agriculture research grants to land-grant universities over the last decade, almost twice as much as the second-highest.
GRAPHIC: Midwestern land-grant schools receivedĀ at least 42% of ag research grant money, data shows
In the Midwest, Michigan State University leads other land-grant universities with at least $334 million in grants between 2012 and 2022.
GRAPHIC: Drought is loosening its grip on Midwestern corn
One month after the percent of corn in drought hit a summer peak, most Midwestern states have seen improvement.
GRAPHIC: Farm bankruptcies hit record low in 2022
Government subsidy programs for farmers boosted farm income and helped reverse previous years of upward trending farm bankruptcies.





