Tomato ripening rooms reveal the growing costs of the produce industry’s massive consolidation.

Gassed Up

Tomatoes are as loved by scientists as they are by consumers. But why?

The Lab Rat of Fruits

An emergent line of research is exploring the possibility of efficient and productive lab-grown vegetables.

Growing Tomatoes Without Photosynthesis

Faced with an uncertain future, farmers and ranchers are figuring out new ways to help protect and conserve their precious water supply.

A Watershed Moment for Montana Agriculture

The early Soviet Union transformed vast swaths of Central Asia to grow cotton. They asked for help from American scientists whose ancestors had spent their lives picking it.

White Gold in Red Soil

Artist and researcher Maggie Coblentz fermented miso in orbit, chasing a deeper question: What makes a miso a miso—or a person a person—away from Earth?

The Miso That Went to Space

Growing up on the world’s largest hippie commune, my mother received an unorthodox education in caring for the land.

The Roots of Utopia

How patience, passion, and purpose have shaped a gentler model of caretaking for Alaska’s last prehistoric megafauna.

Moral Fiber

Hawai`i’s invasion of little fire ants is taking a painful toll on farmers and farmworkers.

Ant Attack

Increasingly in demand, wild octopus populations are dwindling. Can farming ever be the answer? 

The Octopus Conundrum

Is growing agave a smart solution to California’s drought problems? 

Mezcalifornia Dreaming 

In the wake of headlines about the “Oat Mafia” attempting to disrupt America’s oat infrastructure, one writer shares some lessons from the recent past.

My Dad Helped Build North America’s Oat Supply Chain: Can It Be Remade?

The paniolo predate the Wild West’s cattle wranglers — they continue their practices to this day.

Hawai‘i’s Paniolo: The Original Cowboys

Composting human bodies is a growing trend. But is it safe?

Dead Humans, New Soil

Besieged parks and cash-strapped farmers benefit from the growing trend of commercial campgrounds on agricultural land.

A New Way to Hit the Hay

On what rural and urban America owe each other, and how we can all work together for the common good.

Towards a Rural Renaissance

Hybrid honeybees could be a jackpot when it comes to resisting varroa mites — but only if they’re sweet enough to handle safely.

The Honeybee Lottery

The biogas industry might have a new customer: data centers.

Your AI Could be Powered by Manure

Take a trip to Faison, the sweetpotato capital of the world, and you just might learn a few things.

North Carolina Wants You to Stop Saying “Sweet Potato”

As municipal composting expands around the country, practitioners worry it’s not being done in a way that will benefit farmers.

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