How to Unbraid a River

With low incomes and poor access to healthcare, farmworkers suffer an outsized economic impact from a disease many people have never heard of and doctors still misdiagnose. 

Valley Fever Can Devastate Farmworkers and Their Families

Proposed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) legislation looks to slow down America’s trucking fleets — farm groups are pushing back.

Agriculture’s Need for Speed

After years of written correspondence with the iconic rural writer, a “sixth-generation farm kid” reflects on getting to meet his hero.

Have You Heard of Wendell Berry?

Hundreds of school districts have started offering plant-based alternatives in recent months — what’s behind the shift, and what do these meals look like?

The Vegan School Lunch

The story of Othello, former bovine resident of the Central Park Zoo, alone among the polar bears and the alpacas.

The Loneliest Cow in Manhattan

Maine has repeatedly floated bills to include farmworkers in the state’s minimum wage law, but the Democratic governor has vetoed it — and laborers say a lack of legal protections makes it impossible for them to speak up.

The Price of Picking Blueberries

Farmhouse properties are so pretty, they’re getting too expensive to use for agriculture.

The Farmhouse Craze Is Making it Harder for Actual Farmers to Buy Land

Lila Barth

 Hunts Point Produce Market has provided NYC’s fruits and vegetables for decades. But how long can it last?

All of New York’s Apples

After years of transporting students, used school buses get a second life as a specialty farm tool.

Hauling Watermelons in Souped-Up School Buses

Scott Gordon Bleicher

The agriculture specialists at Customs and Border Protection toe a tough line against America’s enemies — pests and diseases that could decimate our domestic food supply.

The Frontline of Food

In the face of repeated, record-breaking dry seasons, farmers are exploring more drought-resistant crops, while researchers scramble to edit their genes.

“Adapt or Die”

It’s part of a larger agency push to promote more traditional foods and help with Native food sovereignty.

USDA Is Buying Bison From Small Native Producers

Investors went wild for the utopian promise of tech-driven vertical farming. Now the industry is on the brink of collapse — can it survive by following in traditional agriculture’s footsteps?

Indoor Agriculture Faces a Reckoning

In the 1970s, one million Americans attempted an off-grid, self-sustaining homestead lifestyle. It wasn’t easy, but it was life on their own terms.

They Were As Gods

A visit to California’s Outlaw Valley Ranch gives a peek into the production of truly natural fiber.

Shearing Sheep, Grazing Green

Researchers have long aimed to decode the language of plants. New technology is making tracking and translating that language possible.

Learning to Speak Plant

Self-described witches are among the most conscientious and prolific users of botanicals, but where do they source their plants?

The Supply Chain for Witches

As the climate crisis worsens, flaws in our national safety net for farmers are becoming more pronounced.

Crop Insurance Faces a Reckoning

Modern haunted farms are elaborate technical productions that can draw tens of thousands of visitors — and help keep some growers in business.

All Stories