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.

“Ghost Cows” and Spoiled Beef: The Ponzi Scheme That Rocked the Cattle Industry

Ramps, aka Appalachia’s wild leeks, are a highly coveted seasonal commodity. What will it take to get more people growing them? 

Where Are the Ramp Farmers?

In American agriculture, a few companies call the shots. Austin Frerick’s first book shows that we may know even less about them than we realize. 

Taking Power From the People: A Big Ag Playbook

In the interest of building closed-loop agriculture systems for future lunar bases, researchers are experimenting with earthworms and moon soil.

Worms in Space

As avian influenza moves from birds to cows to people, how worried do we need to be?

Humans With Bird Flu

The USDA has thrown $300 million at organic agriculture. Is that enough to save our soil?

Soiled Again: The Organic Transition Is Underfoot

A hopeful Southern project is helping reclaim lost heritage while building livelihoods, rebuilding old foodways, and rejuvenating land.

The Black Farmers Growing Rice

An increase in Arctic biomass has led to a threefold increase in delicious Svalbard reindeer. How long can the good times last?

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