Agriculture

A huge organic farm that's backed by the company General Mills is facing accusations that it's doing more environmental harm than good. It shows the difficulties of delivering on green promises.

Last year, some of the largest slaughterhouses in the region temporarily closed after COVID-19 outbreaks. Those closures meant local farmers faced the prospect of having nowhere to send their livestock for processing, and no way to get their food to market. An East Bethel, Minn., woman decided to do something to help.

A lawsuit filed by a group of white farmers from the Midwest asks a federal court to declare a program that erases USDA loans for farmers from “socially disadvantaged groups” discriminatory and unconstitutional. But there's a long history of discrimination against women and people of color in agriculture — and the effects continue to impact the industry today.

A group of Midwestern farmers sued the federal government Thursday alleging they can't participate in a COVID-19 loan forgiveness program because they're white.

At issue is a 1975 California law that allows union organizers limited access to farms so they can seek support from workers in forming a union.

Generations of systemic discrimination have decimated the number of Black farmers in the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talked with NPR about provisions in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that are meant to help Black farmers.

One-third of the cropland in the upper Midwest has entirely lost its fertile topsoil, according to a new study. Other scientists doubt that figure, but agree that soil loss is a big problem.

It's been a bumpy ride for the nascent hemp industry in Minnesota, with changing regulations and falling prices. But industry leaders still expect a bright future as an alternative crop for Minnesota farmers.

An outdoor exhibit in St. Paul is highlighting the Hmong community's relationship to water through history and culture.

Minnesota-based Land O’Lakes is launching a program to pay farmers for storing carbon in the soil to offset climate change effects.