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Agriculture

4:16 pm

Tue June 18, 2013

Missouri moves to lift ban on foreign farm owners

Credit Amy Mayer / Harvest Public Media

By Associated Press

A last-minute move by Missouri lawmakers could make it easier for a Chinese conglomerate to buy one of the biggest pork producers in the U.S.

Legislators agreed on their final day of work in May to remove a ban on foreign ownership of agricultural land in Missouri. That change sets a foreign ownership limit at 1 percent of the state's agricultural land, subject to approval by the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture

3:13 pm

Mon June 17, 2013

Scientists check Corn Belt waters for effects of ag runoff

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Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

One of the U.S. Geological Survey teams collecting water samples and checking cages for fish eggs in Missouri this summer: biologist Diana Papoulias, chemist Dave Alvarez, hydrologist Peter Van Metre, biologist Diane Nicks and toxicologist Don Tillitt.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

At Goodwater Creek near Centralia, Mo., U.S. Geological Survey biologists Papoulias and Nicks pull up six cages of fishhead minnows. They’re checking for eggs to gauge the impact of ag runoff.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

Papoulias and Nicks close the minnow cages with the help of environmental toxicologist Don Tillitt. The biologists will check in on these minnows every other day until the end of July.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that ag runoff is 85 percent of the stream flow in Goodwater Creek’s watershed.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

Chemist Alvarez wades into Skull Lick Creek near Mexico, Mo. to collect some stream water.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

Alvarez's crew is one of many teams fanning out across the Corn Belt to research water quality and its effect on stream ecology.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

After collecting samples, the scientists will test the water for hundreds of pesticides and nutrients used in farming.

Credit Abbie Fentress Swanson/Harvest Public Media

The team is visiting several streams each day this summer as part of this comprehensive U.S. Geological Survey-Environmental Protection Agency stream quality study.

By Abbie Fentress Swanson

Eleven miles northeast of Centralia, Mo., five U.S. Geological Survey scientists don waders and bright reflective life jackets to wade into Goodwater Creek. Plenty of fish live in the stream’s murky slow-moving waters, along with snakes, crayfish, mussels and snapping turtles. On this overcast morning, the team collects water samples and checks submerged cages of fathead minnows for eggs.

Global Journalist

5:36 pm

Thu June 13, 2013

Jordanian authorities block access to nearly 300 news sites

Credit Mohammad Hannon / Associated Press

Jordanian journalists protest in front the House of Parliament, symbolically wearing tape over their mouths, as they protest over proposed changes to the anti-corruption law they believe will muzzle press freedoms, in Amman, Jordan.

By Rehman Tungekar

Listen

In Jordan this week, dozens of journalists demonstrated near the royal palace in Amman. They were protesting against the government’s decision to block access to about 300 of the country’s 400 local news websites.

Agriculture

3:00 pm

Wed June 12, 2013

Grillers beware: Drought driving beef prices up

Credit artizone/Flickr

By Luke Runyon

If you've experienced sticker shock shopping for ground beef or steak recently, be prepared for an entire summer of high beef prices.

Multi-year droughts in states that produce most of the country's beef cattle have driven up costs to historic highs. Last year, ranchers culled deep into their herds — some even liquidated all their cattle — which pushed the U.S. cattle herd to its lowest point since the 1950s.

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