Fusarium wilt is a destructive fungal disease that has long vexed spinach seed farmers in the Pacific Northwest. Researchers may have found a fix.

The Spinach Is Wilting

New technology tests flocks with results in minutes instead of days.

Bird Flu Testing Is in the Air

Cloud seeding is a decades-old method of forcing clouds to release their precipitation. It’s an effective technique, but it’s falling on the weight of conspiracy theories.

Changing the Weather Is for Farms, Not Evil

Bugs could connect the ends of the food system by eating waste and creating fertilizer. But the industry will take time to hatch, experts say.

The Growing Allure of Insect Poop

Hornworts, an otherwise unremarkable bit of flora, has a unique photosynthesis booster. New research finds this booster has the potential to increase crop yields up to 50%.

The Funny Little Plant That Could Upend Agriculture

A USDA lab devised a way to ID toxins from common poisonous plants using “non-traditional” bodily excretions.

Sick Sheep? Let Us Inspect Their Earwax.

Scientists are harnessing the natural immune systems of our crops, an attempt to cut down on pesticide use.

In Praise of “Plant Vaccines”

New England farmers are participating in the first known field trials of human-urine fertilizer in the U.S.

Can Human Urine Fertilize our Crops?

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

Is Roundup Messing With Our Gut Microbiome?

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

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

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

Worms in Space

New research exposes how America’s beef industry is increasingly propped up by the consumption habits of middle-aged men.

Aging Out of Beef

Our national mental health crisis is even more acute in rural farm communities, where parents may unwittingly pass stress onto their children.

Farm Kids Are Experiencing High Rates of Anxiety and Depression

If you’re a struggling producer without local mental health services, remote therapy seems like a promising option. But how do you overcome distrust of the unknown?

For Farmers in Crisis, Could Online Therapy Be the Answer?

New research investigates how nitrogen in farmland soils responds to recharge floodwaters.

Farmland flooding could help with both extreme weather and depleted aquifers. But will it contaminate drinking water?

A new study shows that bald eagles have landed on Northwest Washington dairy farms to feed on placenta and calf carcasses. It’s a symbiotic relationship.

Washington Dairy Farmers Love Bald Eagles, and Vice Versa

A new study measuring rare, cosmic atoms shows that soil erosion in the Midwest is orders of magnitude worse than we thought. 

What Explosions in Space Tell Us About Agricultural Erosion 

The Covid-19 pandemic amplified the demand for mental health resources, bolstering programs designed to meet the unique needs of farmers and ranchers.

Addressing Agriculture’s Mental Health Crisis

A new study by the University of Florida shows human contact can reduce certain oral behaviors in dairy calves, but does that mean they are happier?

More Human Contact Could Benefit Dairy Calves — Maybe

Researchers finally completed a new line of tomatoes, bred with natural pest-resistant qualities that cause insects to “groom excessively, then leave.”

After 3 Decades in the Lab, Meet Cornell’s Pest-Resistant Tomato

A new study — including a first-of-its-kind national survey — hopes to show that if America wants farmers, those farmers need help with childcare. 

The Tricky Balance of Raising Kids and Maintaining a Farm

Farmers have been feeding food scraps to poultry for centuries as a way to reduce costs and waste — but a new study shows the practice could also improve gastrointestinal health.

Upcycling Apple Waste Could Give Chickens a Gut Health Boost

Bovine respiratory disease is deadly, costly — and famously difficult to detect. A new pilot study charged dogs with tracking down the elusive illness.

Using Hound Dogs to Sniff Out Cattle Disease

Tech-driven, soilless farm systems can serve as a useful tool to save water and shore up the supply chain. But the process comes with not-insignificant challenges.

The Uncertain Future of Growing Without Soil

After a series of lousy blueberry harvests, Maine researchers hope the charcoal soil amendment will help survive future droughts — valuable info for all farmers.

Is the Biochar Boom Upon Us?

New research finds that the CO₂ pumping out of building exhaust vents could help give rooftop produce outputs a boost.

Recycled Carbon Dioxide May Be the Key to Bountiful Rooftop Farms

Nearly 20% of U.S. farms have no access to the internet, limiting their ability to embrace precision agriculture, boost crop yields, and implement more sustainable practices.

Missed Connections: How a Lack of Reliable Internet Access Hinders Rural Farmers

New research highlights the steadily increasing scarcity of food animal vets — and what that could mean for our supply chain and the rural economy.

There’s a Shortage of Livestock Veterinarians and It’s Making Our Food Less Safe

It has been sold as a cornucopia of additional revenue streams — but it’s often not so easy. 

Agritourism Won’t Fix Every Farmer’s Financial Woes

New research shows some synthetic chemicals change the electric fields around flowers so that pollinators avoid them.

Fertilizer Is Making Flowers Repel Bumblebees

New research reveals that notoriously efficient corn and soy harvests aren’t quite so efficient, after all.

U.S. Grain Farmers Are Leaving $2.6 Billion on the Field

New research reveals that climate change is leading to more “rain-on-snow” events, which means more soil erosion, pollution, and toxic algal blooms.

Winter Rain Keeps Increasing — And It’s Exponentially Increasing Toxic Farm Runoff

Analysts say proactive responses by farmers may bring costs down.

Climate Change Likely Driving Crop Insurance Costs Up

Jisang Yu, PhD

Brittney Goodrich, PhD

A natural experiment allows us to compare the participation rates of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and the Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) insurance product. We find that the two offerings are competing with each other.

The Conservation Reserve Program is Competing with Pasture Insurance for Farmer Participation

We explore how farm aid funding is distributed and how different application channels can affect accessibility. 

Does Digital Access to USDA Programs Mean More Equitable Access?

We mapped all the farmland in the US by its ratio of land cost to expected agricultural value.

Buy Farmland Where Your Harvest Justifies the Cost of Land

Aleks Schaefer, PhD JD

County-level CFAP payment data shows a large gulf between the counties with broadband access and those without.

Studies