Farm Issues

On Thursday, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway introduced a draft Farm Bill that runs counter to what farmers and eaters across the country need. Among other disappointments, the bill would eliminate the country's largest conservation program, allow concentrated animal feeding operations to claim limited conservation dollars, place no meaningful limitations on subsidy payments to large farms, and remove all mandatory funding for Energy Title programs.

If you’ve not already heard of Jean-Martin Fortier, allow us to introduce you to a rising star, the Canadian organic farmer whose notion of human-scaled, “six-figure farming” is shaking up the fields.

For the past few years, national media have touted Detroit's comeback story: It endured dark days, went through the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy, and is — literally, with the construction of a new skyscraper — on the rise.

The city is about to face a different kind of buzz.

"We're starting to see more bees in the city," said Timothy Paule, who, with his girlfriend, started a nonprofit to build beehives on vacant city plots. "Some people are planting urban farms, and they're adding bees to help with the yield. Others are doing their part and placing hives in backyards

Jess King is running a progressive, grassroots campaign in a district where Donald Trump won and incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker won 53 percent of the vote in the 2016 election. The mostly rural district is populated with Amish farmers, devout Mennonites, and people who mostly feel they’ve been left behind by national politicians from both parties.