Solar energy developer pours money into Oklahoma politics as farmers push back
A massive 2,000-acre solar farm is under construction in northwest Oklahoma, and the project has drawn significant pushback from neighboring farmers and ranchers. Juan Vassallo, Investigate Midwest’s Oklahoma-based reporter, has been covering this development for the past year, including a lawsuit filed by area residents.
Through his reporting, Juan obtained documents and emails related to the project, allowing him to learn more about how NextEra Energy, the company behind the project, has responded to these concerns, including its lobbying effort to reduce its payment of state fees.
In this week’s feature story, Juan takes a closer look at those efforts, which come as lawmakers continue to debate how to regulate the growing renewable energy sector.
“I live in the country for a reason — to get away from industrial-looking things, for peace and quiet,” said Lora Dierksen about the solar farm development.
Besides the impact on a rural lifestyle, area farmers also said solar farm projects and related infrastructure have impacted water drainage and pushed predatory animals onto their property.
This story offers important insight into how one powerful company is operating in Oklahoma, but it also taps into the larger national issue of expanded renewable energy development and its impact on the agricultural sector.
— Ben Felder, editor-in-chief
‘This is my ’80s’: As Trump’s tariffs upend trade, farmers endure instability
By Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
April Hemmes began farming soybeans in Iowa in the mid-1980s, just as the agricultural economy was in crisis and many farms were lost. Now, when she speaks to her younger peers, she hears a common refrain: “This is my ’80s, April.”
Experienced farmers are used to tough times, Hemmes said, but for younger farmers — the average age is about 59 now — today’s farm economy is a uniquely challenging situation.
“They’re going through it,” she said at a panel on tariffs and global trade hosted by Investigate Midwest, Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, and Arkansas Times. “But I tell them, I got through it, you’ll get through it.”
The latest round of tough times stems from President Trump’s decision, in 2018, to start a trade war with China, which U.S. soybean farmers had come to rely on to buy their product. Since then, China has turned to Brazil for soybeans.
Farm bankruptcies jumped 46% in 2025 as debt loads and costs rise
By Lauren Cross, Investigate Midwest
Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies rose 46% in 2025 — to 315 filings compared to 216 in 2024, marking the third year in a row that filings increased, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The Midwest accounted for 121 filings, followed by the Southeast with 105, and together representing more than two-thirds of cases nationwide. Filings in both regions increased by roughly 70% compared with the previous year, based on the AFBF’s analysis of U.S. courts data.
ICYMI: Why we examined pesticide use and cancer rates, explained on IPR
Investigate Midwest’s editor-in-chief Ben Felder joined Ben Kieffer on Iowa Public Radio’s River to River last week to explain the data and reporting behind his latest investigation into pesticide use and cancer rates in the agricultural heartland. The conversation breaks down why the project focused specifically on pesticides, what the data can and cannot show, and how overlapping exposures complicate clear answers. The program also featured voices of two cancer survivors Felder interviewed for the investigation.
It’s worth a listen.
