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# Our biggest stories in 2025
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/our-biggest-stories-in-2025/
- Published: 2025-12-22T13:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-22T13:00:00.000Z
- Description: A year of power, policy and the people caught in between.
- Author: Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Agribusiness, Labor, Impact, agricultural tariffs, TP::Behind the Story, broadband access, China tariffs, deportations, donald trump farmers tariffs, Ethanol, ethanol industry, farmers, Fertilizer, fertilizer prices, ICE enforcement, ICE raids, Illinois, Illinois Corn Growers, Immigration, immigration enforcement, Iowa, Jack Link's, labor abuse, Oklahoma, OSHA, OSHA inspections, Poultry, poultry companies, rural America, SNAP, SNAP cuts, tariffs, Trump administration, Walmart, water pollution, water pollution Iowa, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

From a new presidential administration and sweeping changes at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to the world's largest retailer entering the beef industry and unchecked water use by a giant poultry producer, 2025 was a year of investigating power across the agricultural industry.

Here are some of our biggest stories from the past 12 months.

## Politics, federal and state

President Trump's impact on the agriculture sector was significant, but state lawmakers also played an important role in shaping the nation's food system.

## Worker safety

From farms to factories, work in the food system can be dangerous. These stories examined how both corporations and government regulators failed to keep workers safe.

## Immigrant workers

The food system, which heavily relies on immigrant workers, was upended this year by the Trump administration's push to deport thousands of undocumented residents and end legal programs.

## Corporate control

These stories investigated some of the most powerful corporate players in the agriculture sector and their impact on the environment, consumer prices and government regulations.

## Rural life

From fights over Big Ag's water use to rising hunger rates in farming communities, these stories provide an on-the-ground look at some of the challenges across the heartland.

## Pesticide use

Pesticide use has increased across the Midwest, raising questions about regulations and safety.