Consumers might think green tea is an imported modern trend, but the beverage carries a long, all-American legacy in Midwestern farm country.

Drinking Green Tea With the Farmhands

The U.S. grows vast amounts of commodity soy every year, for animal feed and industrial uses. What about growing premium beans for plant-based burgers?

Growing Better Soybeans, Not More

It’s no secret that large-animal veterinarians are in short supply across the U.S. How are we going to fix it?

Coming Up Short: Searching for Solutions to America’s Rural Vet Shortage

Siri Kaur

A prodigal daughter moves from NYC back to Montana to help her family’s cattle give birth. 

The Night Calver

Algae sourced from algal blooms has shown much promise as a biofertilizer, potentially replacing the chemicals that cause … algal blooms.

Algal Blooms Are a Problem — They Could Also Be a Solution

Yaupon holly, a once-forgotten caffeinated plant native to this continent, is one of this year’s hottest food trends.

 North America’s Original Buzz

There’s an underground knowledge pipeline connecting pregnant and postpartum parents to well-sourced herbs.

Pregnant Women Are Using Herbs as Medicine — But Where Do They Come From?

Deer farms have long worked to breed the highest-quality deer for hunting. Is it possible to create a herd that can withstand the plague of chronic wasting disease?

The Great Disease-Proof Deer Debate

Most of our “cinnamon” imports actually come from the bark of the cassia tree — a cheaper product. What are we missing out on?

Do You Even Know What Cinnamon Tastes Like?

With the industry in trouble, Massachusetts growers and environmentalists see opportunity in restoring the land.

For Struggling Cranberry Farmers, Wetland Restoration Offers a Way Out — or a Chance at Survival

In contrast to its old-fashioned reputation, today’s FFA members utilize cutting-edge technologies to address agriculture’s most pressing challenges. 

Future Farmers of America: More Than Cows, Sows, and Plows

New Cowgirl Camp hopes to teach women skills ranging from holistic land management to checking pregnant cows.

Let Your Girls Grow Up to Be Ranchers

In the popular imagination, prized truffles come from Europe, foraged from the wild. Here in the U.S. however, more than 200 farms are trying to disprove that convention.

From If to When: The Rapid Growth of America’s Truffle Industry

Scientists have created a cow that produces human insulin in its milk. But the ethical debate surrounding genetic engineering remains as murky as ever. 

Drink Your Insulin, Dear

The humble black soldier fly has been a chicken feed staple for years, but it’s only recently that researchers realized their untapped potential to convert waste into natural fertilizers and pesticides.

The Tiny Fly That Could Transform Agriculture

Rubber may be the most important agricultural product in America — and it’s in danger. Now, scientists and growers are working to cultivate solutions.

A Plan to Save America’s Rubber Soul 

Previously dismissed as squishy and vague, soil scientists are embracing the term to advance protecting the precious resource.

Scientists Are Warming Up to “Soil Health” — if They Can Agree on a Definition

Jesse Hirsch

When a Los Angeles-area student sued her school district, she ended up sparking a national debate over milk in school lunches and the need for more inclusive options.

The Fight for Dairy Diversity in Public Schools

Years after an Upstate farm family started spreading biosolids on their land, local wells started registering high PFAS levels. Things got ugly. 

New York’s Sludge Wars Are Personal

Wholesale beef supplier Agridime told investors the deal they offered “sounded too good to be true” — and it was.

All Stories