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Exciting changes in our newsroom
Sky Chadde has been named Investigate Midwest’s assistant editor/senior reporter.
This move will position Chadde to beef up the newsroom’s investigative reporting power, while still assisting with our staff reporters’ growth and development.
“This new role represents something I’ve wanted for a while — the chance to return to nitty-gritty reporting,” Chadde said, who served as Investigate Midwest’s first managing editor from 2019 through early August 2022. “While I’m proud of my time as managing editor, I never set out to be a full-time editor. I’m honored that Investigate Midwest’s leadership trusted me to transition to a new job, and I’m very excited to see where Erin will take our newsroom.”
A 2019 graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism with a master's degree in investigative reporting, Chadde has covered Missouri state government for the Columbia Missourian and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Before grad school, he was a reporter in Texas, covering local governments and law enforcement.
Recently, Chadde was among a group of Investigate Midwest and Harvest Public Media journalists who won first place in the small newsroom category of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Awards for Investigative Reporting for their work on the series "Big Ag U."
Deputy Director Erin Orr will serve as managing editor in addition to her other duties helping oversee personnel and business operations.
“Working with Sky is a joy,” Orr said. “It’s exciting to see him return to more investigative reporting, helping lead the charge for Investigate Midwest’s coverage of Big Ag.”
Stories about the Mississippi River Basin
Investigate Midwest is part of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in partnership with Report For America and funded by the Walton Family Foundation.
With Corn Belt inching north, farm diversification gains momentum | Adam Goldstein, Columbia Missourian
Josh Payne of Missouri is one of a small but growing number of Midwestern farmers re-evaluating how to manage their land as they face climate change, market shocks, and other threats. Diverse farms like his made up only 10% to 15% of the roughly 2 million farms in the 2017 U.S. agricultural census. Yet researchers predict these farms will become more common across the Midwest as climate change redraws the American agricultural map. Already, the Corn Belt – which traditionally spanned from Kansas to Ohio and from Missouri to the Dakotas – has shifted northwest, a trend that’s expected to continue.
Stories from our staff
SEC proposal could shine a light on Big Ag companies’ supply chain emissions | Marley Schultz, Investigate Midwest
A new proposal from the Securities and Exchange Commission — expected to be ruled on in October — would require public corporations to collect and disclose emissions data up and down their value chain in an effort to increase transparency and accountability for corporations that have an outsized effect on the environment.
GRAPHIC: As enrolled acres decline, CRP payment rates have increased | Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest
The USDA pays farmers who enroll in the Conservation Reserve Program a “rental payment” for every acre of land the farmer agrees to set aside.
More news about Investigate Midwest
Our latest crop of fellows, interns
Investigate Midwest has benefited from the work of five fellows and interns this summer. The final two finish their work this week and head to their schools or next ventures. They include:
Heather Robinson, a student at the University of Illinois-Champaign, centered her summer reporting and research on a private-public partnership that aims to protect farm workers. She also reported on data, showing Americans love honey. Robinson will return to school this fall.
Come to Sunset On The Farm on Sept. 25
Tickets are available for this IowaWatch favorite, sponsored in part by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. It will take place 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, September 25, at the Walker Homestead, just outside of Iowa City, Iowa. Come for the beautiful setting, great brick-oven pizza, wine, silent auction and camaraderie. Contact Mary Ungs-Sogaard at for more information.
