Passing on a tradition of wild rice harvest in northern Minnesota

Oct 18, 2017
Native Americans migrated to Minnesota centuries ago “where food grew on the water,” 500 years later, the wild rice harvest tradition is still being passed on.
Bruce Martineau poles his father Francis Martineau to the shore of Deadfish Lake after harvesting wild rice on the Fond du Lac reservation on Sept. 5, 2017.
Dan Karker/ for Marketplace

Puerto Rican farms are starting over from seeds

Sep 29, 2017
Hurricane Maria devastated farmland on the island.
Irma Maldanado stands with Sussury her parrot and her dog in what is left of her home that was destroyed when Hurricane Maria passed through on September 27, 2017 in Corozal, Puerto Rico. 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Can medical marijuana become the economic engine of a city?

Sep 15, 2017
Leaders in McKeesport, Pennsylvania are hoping the medical marijuana industry can revitalize the city.
Chayne Rouse and his sister Kayla Wilkes wait in line to apply for jobs at Pure Penn. 
Erika Beras/ Marketplace

Some young farmers postpone careers to pay off school loans

Jun 5, 2017
Modern farming has made it tough for a new generation to get started.
Liz Graznak and her daughter Sylvia hunt for weeds in the high tunnel at Happy Hollow Farm. Graznak worked for six years after college to save money to start her farm.
Kristofor Husted/Harvest Public Media

Farmers bring their shopping lists to the White House

Apr 25, 2017
As Sonny Perdue gets sworn in to be the new Secretary of Agriculture, President Trump is set to meet with farming representatives. Among the top items on their list: immigration and trade. Up to 70 percent of the farming labor force is undocumented immigrants. About 20 percent of the U.S. agriculture business are exports dependent […]

Central California's family raisin farms are drying up

Mar 28, 2017
Farmers are steering their kids away from the crop, whose prices are falling.
John Paboojian Jr. owns about 450 acres of raisin vineyards in Fowler, California, and has been working the land for 75 years.
Andy Uhler/Marketplace

The fight for the dairy aisle turns on the question: 'What’s milk?'

Mar 3, 2017
With the proliferation of products calling themselves milk (soy, almond, rice, coconut), dairy farmers are now lobbying Congress to limit the use of the word to the stuff that comes from lactating animals, namely cows.  And the makers of the plant-based drinks want to keep milking the term, so they’re pushing back. The Wall Street […]

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Corn farmers looking ahead with 'nervous anticipation'

Jan 23, 2017
Corn farmer Keith Alverson says he and his peers are cautiously optimistic.
A corn field in South Dakota.
Lars Plougmann/Flickr

Farmers pin hopes on Trump's choice for Ag Secretary

Jan 23, 2017
Sonny Perdue, former governor of Georgia, is Trump's pick to head the U.S.D.A.
Former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue speaks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower, November 30, 2016 in New York, after meetings with US President-elect Donald Trump.
BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

Canadian greenhouse industry seeks methods to reduce pollution into Lake Erie

Jan 2, 2017
Many Canadian greenhouse growers are switching to water recycling.
After greenhouse tomatoes are picked and loaded into boxes, they're delivered to packing stations using robotic trolleys.
Karen Schaefer