As climates shift and traditional growing regions suffer, the American South has potential to be the next global olive oil source.

Southern Olive Oil

Its practitioners describe the 100-year-old approach as “organic-plus,” but its central rituals are more witchy than scientific.

Is Biodynamic Farming Magic?

A new initiative aims to shift some crop production from increasingly water-scarce, heat- and fire-scorched California to the Mid-Delta. Rice is key to the plan. 

The California-to-Arkansas Farmer Pipeline

After caving to pressure and ditching its DEI initiatives, the agriculture chain is facing pressure from another segment of its customer base.

Tractor Supply’s Boycott Backlash

As the Southwest grows more arid, ranchers are using tech to sustain the economic and ecological viability of cattle — and protect the fragile living soil beneath their hooves.

Bovines and Biocrusts

Will the brand’s in-house TikToker help to engage more young people in agriculture? 

John Deere’s New Gen Z Chief Tractor Officer

For coastal farmers, salt hay crops offer a potential upside to seawater intrusion.

Salting the Earth

Select college cafeterias have long offered fresh local produce, some of it grown right on campus. But the newest farm-to-college programs offer students a crash course in every aspect of food production.

Farm-to-College Dining Levels Up

Dairy farmers are seeing huge payouts for beef-dairy crossbreeds amid a major beef shortage and bottomed-out milk prices.

U.S. Dairies Bet On Beef

Researchers say the popular herbicide glyphosate could be causing Celiac disease, colitis, and other gut issues.

Is Roundup Messing With Our Gut Microbiome?

Many farmers are adopting a “market credit” style model, giving customers the flexibility to choose what they want each week — if anything.

Have We Outgrown the CSA Model?

Many stakeholders see California as kelp farming’s next frontier, but they say the permitting process is slow, expensive, and confusing. 

The Seaweed Industry Is Booming. Why Is it so Hard to Start a Farm in California? 

As broadband access slips away from rural farming communities, new research shows particular harms to the young.

Pandemic-Era Broadband Access Is Receding — Rural Kids Are Paying the Price

The geology of southern West Virginia leaves its groundwater vulnerable to pollution, making the state’s new natural gas pipeline a risky proposition.

All Around the Mountain Valley Pipeline, Farmers Are Losing Access to Clean Water

Why this sustainable, nutritious ancient grain deserves your respect.

Making the Case for Sorghum 

New research finds that tuber-based sensors can effectively detect gamma radiation and be planted in fields surrounding nuclear power plants. 

Nuclear Fallout and Potatoes

Gay farmers have existed since the beginning of time, but the community is still under-resourced and lacking in representation.

Farming While Queer

Scientists have discovered significant effectiveness of bats for orchard pests. But the nighttime hunters are fickle about where they settle down.

Bats Are the Perfect Predator for Destructive Moths — If Farmers Can Coax Them In

The FAA recently approved the use of multiple unmanned aircraft on a single farm, promising to make it easier to manage large fields. But regulators say the technology is weighed down by a lot of unknowns.

Hive Mentality: Drone Swarms Are On The Horizon

Scientists are now warning about the spread of many non-native earthworm species across North America, leaving big damage in their wake.

Not All Earthworms Are Cool

The plant-based drink has exploded in popularity, but low oat stocks put the industry in a “perilous position,” according to experts.

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