Field Notes

Most farmers in western Kansas can’t just look to the skies for water to nourish their crops -- they have to dig down to the Ogallala Aquifer to supplement Mother Nature. They use an impressive amount of water, with irrigation often accounting for 85 percent of the water used in the entire state.

Phillip Brasher, reporter for the Des Moines Register, reports that the failure of the congressional super committee to come up with a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit throws in doubt the future of federal crop subsidies after next year.

The package of agriculture and food policy that's called the farm bill is reauthorized by Congress every five years. This year, however, things are a bit different for this historically lengthy and debate-rich process. The federal budget deficit that's been hanging around for months has pushed the farm bill into overdrive, and the legislation is now on the fast track straight to the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, otherwise known as the super committee.

A free-range chicken isn’t a free-agent. It may only spend a portion of its day in the great outdoors. The rest of the time? Anywhere but a cage. Though, that information is not something you'll find spelled out for you on a package of chicken breast. On this week's Field Notes: really listening to what food labels say, or don't say.

How much you are willing to pay for your favorite sandwich? If it has peanut butter in it, you may soon be recalculating. A looming shortage of U.S. peanuts is causing the price of peanut butter to soar. Even if you're willing to pay more for peanut butter, you should know what's driving up the cost of this American staple food. Listen to this episode of Fields Notes for the answer.

Think of the most natural, pristine place you've ever visited. You might envision a national forest or state park. These locales provide a landscape of solace, peace and quiet. We relate to these getaways as pure, real nature that's managed to stay untouched through centuries of human intervention. Now imagine your favorite hiking path or placid lake as a construction of wildlife: an outdoors reality based on someone else's idea of an anti-urban, off-the-beaten-path wilderness. On this episode of Field Notes, we explore nature conservation with environmental journalist Emma Marris.

The second warmest summer on record is coming to a close, but states like Texas and Kansas are still gripped by high temperatures and extremely low rainfall. Now, the drought has spread north to southwestern Missouri where farmers in the parched Ozark foothills haven't seen real moisture since May.

When it comes to selling produce, farmers have a few options. There are grocery stores, then there are farmers markets. In Kansas City, mobile markets are even cropping up. Check out that story, here. Now, we bring you barebones farmers on wheels. Road bikes are the preferred form of travel and mode of commerce for the operators of Quail Bone Farm in Columbia, Mo.

Farm Aid’s “Homegrown Village” is a sort of cheesy title for something that’s really simple, and from what I saw and heard, rare.