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China is investing billions in Latin America, potentially sidelining U.S. farmers for decades to come
By Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest – Dec. 15, 2025
Soybeans have been a top U.S. ag export for decades. What happens when the top buyer stops buying?
By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout; Gabby Nelson, Buffalo’s Fire and Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest – Dec. 10, 2025
As cover crop use grows, many farmers struggle to commit to the practice
By Olivia Cohen, The Cedar Rapids Gazette – Nov. 19, 2025
Pig farmer reimagines her future as Trump officials cut local food program
By Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch – July 4, 2025
Trump’s Tariffs Are Hurting U.S. Agriculture. Some Farmers Support Them Anyway
By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press – June 15, 2025
Pesticide manufacturers ask lawmakers for immunity from lawsuits by sick farmers
By Estefanía Pinto Ruiz – May 20, 2025
Forest Service is cutting down more trees, despite their ability to sequester carbon
By Bryan Chou, Columbia Missourian – March 6, 2025
As solar expands in the Delta, can agrivoltaic projects grow with the boom?
By Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times; and Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Nov. 5, 2024
For decades, the government banned hemp. Now, it’s funding hemp research to fight climate change
By Harshawn Ratanpal, KBIA – Oct. 23, 2024
Non-profit offers accessible, but lesser known, alternative to organic certification
By Harshawn Ratanpal, KBIA – Jan. 15, 2025
Federal drought relief policies leave some farmers out to dry
By Harshawn Ratanpal, KBIA – Oct. 2, 2024
Kernza could make agriculture more sustainable. It just needs a market to take off
By Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio – Sept. 23, 2024
As climate threats to agriculture mount, could the Mississippi River delta be the next California?
By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout; Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press; and Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times – Aug. 19, 2024
Federal aid addresses discrimination for thousands of farmers after years of delay
By Eva Tesfaye, WWNO-New Orleans Public Radio – Aug. 6, 2024
‘Precision ag’ promised a farming revolution. It’s coming, just slowly
By Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio – June 7, 2024
Mississippi River delegation lobbies for Farm Bill conservation funding in Washington
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – March 13, 2024
Poopspotting: How AI and satellites can detect illegal manure spreading
By Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch – March 7, 2024
Latest farm data a ‘wake-up call’ as Midwest farmers face ever steeper challenges
By Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest; Erin Jordan & Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette; Chris Clayton, DTN/The Progressive Farmer; and Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Feb. 16, 2024
Farm conservation programs offer solutions to climate threats, but are vastly underfunded
By Erin Jordan, The Gazette; Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; and Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest – Nov. 20, 2023
Millets – ancient, drought-resistant grains – could help the Midwest survive climate change
By Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – May 31, 2023
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Worried about spying and tensions with China, many states limit who can buy farmland
By Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – March 14, 2023
Farmers endured a rough year, but fertilizer companies cashed in
By Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest – Dec. 27, 2022
With Corn Belt inching north, Midwest farm diversification gains momentum
By Adam Goldstein, Columbia Missourian – Aug. 11, 2022
As Farmers Face Trade Wars and Inflation, Calls to Mental Health Hotlines Rise
By Estefania Pinto Ruiz, KWQC – Dec. 4, 2025
Ag department cuts 30-year survey of food insecurity
By Harshawn Ratanpal, KBIA – Oct. 8, 2025
Mississippi River Basin communities launch new effort to deliver disaster relief within 72 hours
By Héctor Alejandro Arzate – Sept. 18, 2025
Paddling the length of the Mississippi River is a grand adventure
By Estefanía Pinto Ruiz, KWQC – Sept. 12, 2025
Earthquake insurance rates have skyrocketed in southeast Missouri. Why?
By Ezra Bitterman, Columbia Missourian and Harshawn Ratanpal, KBIA – May 14, 2025
Insurance reform worsens affordability in flood-prone Louisiana
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – Jan. 27, 2025
Mississippi River towns pilot new insurance model to help with disaster response
By Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio, and Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – Nov. 18, 2024
Community volunteers play crucial role in studying water quality in Mississippi River basin
By Julie Freijat, Flatland – Oct. 18, 2024
It’s not a matter of if but when: Midwest states in constant state of preparation for next big earthquake along New Madrid fault
By Avery Martinez, KMOV First Alert 4 – Oct. 17, 2024
On the Wisconsin-Iowa border, the Mississippi River is eroding sacred Indigenous mounds
By Madeline Heim and Frank Vaisvilas, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Oct. 14, 2024
Rollin’ on the river: How the Mississippi flows through song and still inspires today
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Oct. 7, 2024
As more students struggle to afford food, some campuses get creative
By Jess Savage, WNIJ – Oct. 3, 2024
As Delta towns lose population, unique culture and history disappear with them
Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Sept. 2, 2024
Survey finds Latino voters concerned about Mississippi River health, environment
By Estefania Pinto Ruiz, KWQC – Aug. 29, 2024
Worshippers bless the Mississippi River by boat, in an act of Eucharistic revival
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – Aug. 16, 2024
Tribal food assistance program in shambles after USDA warehouse consolidation
By Grace Fiori, Buffalo’s Fire – Aug. 14, 2024
New collection shows unique history of the upper Mississippi River’s ‘Driftless region’
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Aug. 6, 2024
Louisiana tribes restore river cane to preserve their culture and the environment
By Eva Tesfaye, WWNO – July 18, 2024
Arkansas museum expands to better tell the story of the Sultana shipwreck
By Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian – March 16, 2024
The Mississippi River is central to America’s story. Why doesn’t it get more love?
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Dec. 5, 2023
Mississippi River basin residents worry about environment, but few know they live in the basin
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Oct. 23, 2023
Burgeoning Mississippi riverboat industry grapples with increasing threats of flooding, drought
By Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian – July 22, 2023
Lost in translation: How USDA barriers leave immigrant farmers and ranchers behind
By Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette – May 22, 2023
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How small rural towns can access Inflation Reduction Act funding
By Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – March 28, 2023
Queering the family farm: Despite obstacles, LGBTQ farmers find fertile ground in Midwest
By Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch – Dec. 26, 2022
Biden promised billions for environmental justice. Will it get into the right hands?
By Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal; Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian; and Halle Parker, WWNO – Oct. 28, 202
As Mississippi River’s Lake Pepin shrinks alarmingly, project will study role of ravines
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Oct. 23, 2025
Cruise to measure Gulf dead zone faces stormy funding future
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – Aug. 21, 2025
Environmental experts, lawyers say pollution in Iowa’s water leads to ‘preventable suffering’
By Olivia Cohen, The Cedar Rapids Gazette – Aug. 8, 2025
Size of ‘dead zone’ in the Gulf expected to be about average this year. Funding woes for research and action could be much bigger
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – June 12, 2025
Mississippi River loses most of its sediment – and land building ability – before reaching the Gulf of Mexico
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – May 27, 2025
Mississippi River officials concerned about federal funding cuts
By Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – April 3, 2025
Mississippi River mayors lobby for more government funding for flooding, mitigation
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – March 10, 2025
Latest federal Water Resources Development Act addresses climate extremes and flooding along the Mississippi River
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – Jan. 17, 2025
As saltwater flows up the Mississippi River for a third year, the region looks for permanent solutions
By Eva Tesfaye, WWNO, and Lily Carey, Sierra Magazine – Nov. 19, 2024
The fate of thousands of U.S. dams hangs in the balance, leaving rural communities with hard choices
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Pending creation of new Tennessee state forest would protect water supply in Memphis and beyond
By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout
Gulf ‘dead zone’ is larger than average this year, the size of New Jersey
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – Aug. 2, 2024
FARM TO TROUBLE: What can fix slow progress on curbing the farm runoff that fuels the Gulf ‘dead zone’ and threatens waters upstream?
Series – June 18, 2024
‘Dead zone’ in the Gulf of Mexico predicted to be bigger than average this summer
By Eva Tesfaye, WWNO-New Orleans Public Radio – July 13, 2024
PFAS is piling up in our trash. Can we keep it contained?
By Chloe Johnson, Star Tribune – March 5, 2024
Chlorine creates harmful byproducts in drinking water. New research seeks solutions.
By Chloe Johnson, Star Tribune – Sept. 20, 2023
‘Dead Zone’ smaller than average, but still almost as big as Yellowstone Park
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – Aug. 3, 2023
With billions on the table for water infrastructure, small communities risk being left out to dry
By Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal – June 23, 2023
Road salts wash into Mississippi River, damaging ecosystems and pipes
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Jan. 16, 2023
Listen on Science Friday
Testing the waters: How groups monitor toxic algae in the absence of state testing
By Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – Aug. 29, 2022
Warming winters are increasing fertilizer runoff and polluting waterways, a new study finds
By Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – Oct. 13, 2022
Pumping Mississippi River water west: solution or dream?
By Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette/AP – Feb. 2, 2023
Should you eat fish from the Mississippi River? Depends which state you ask.
By Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch & Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian
A tool tracking billion-dollar disasters is back after the Trump administration retired it
By Héctor Alejandro Arzate – Oct. 27, 2025
New dashboard provides drought data across Mississippi River Basin
By Harshawn Ratanpal, KBIA – Sept. 17, 2025
A warming climate is changing growing conditions, shifting planting zones northward
By Olivia Cohen, The Cedar Rapids Gazette – July 14, 2025
Drought means ‘drier than normal,’ but ‘normal’ is changing
By Harshawn Ratanpal, KBIA – July 9, 2025
Retired National Weather Service director says cuts could lead to ‘needless loss of life’
By Avery Martinez, First Alert 4 – June 4, 2025
Uncertainty about federal disaster aid looms as storms roll in
By Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times, Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout, and Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press – May 22, 2025
Mississippi River named the most endangered of 2025 by non-profit American Rivers
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – April 16, 2025
Mississippi River cities brace for still-rising floodwaters, laud success of some mitigation measures
Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout – April 8, 2025
Louisiana’s wetlands store massive amounts of carbon. They also contribute to emissions when lost.
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – Feb. 26, 2025
Bogs sink carbon dioxide ‘like no ecosystem on Earth,’ but many are at risk of being drained
By Jess Savage, WNIJ/Northern Public Radio – Feb. 17, 2025
An ecosystem engineer’s vision: mock beaver dams to restore Wisconsin wetlands
By Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch – December 26, 2024
Upper Mississippi River flooding offers relief after ongoing drought in the south
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens & Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times – July 12, 2024
Heavy rainfall in upper Midwest causes evacuations, bridge collapses, potential dam failure
By Chris Clayton, DTN/The Progressive Farmer – June 25, 2024
Midwest maple syrup producers adapt to record warm winter, uncertainty as climate changes
By Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch & Brittney J. Miller, Cedar Rapids Gazette – March 27, 2024
Ice cover on the upper Mississippi River was fleeting this winter. Is this our future?
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – March 25, 2024
Upper Mississippi flooding unlikely after relatively dry winter
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – March 5, 2024
Week of heavy snowfall wallops Midwest, could bring drought relief
By Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette – Jan. 22, 2024
As climate risks increase, Mississippi River towns look to each other for solutions
By Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio – Jan. 6, 2024
Mississippi River and its mayors step onto international climate stage at COP28
By Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian – Dec. 15, 2023
A Changing Basin: Our 2023 series on how Midwest states, often viewed as climate havens, grappled with heat, drought, flooding, wildfire smoke and more
As extreme weather increasingly threatens crops, study finds taxpayers pay the price
By Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette – Nov. 2, 2023
Midwest farmworkers struggle with extreme heat — and almost no regulatory safeguards
By Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest & Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – Aug. 28, 2023
Listen on Science Friday
Mississippi River mayors eye federal funds to fight effects of climate change
By Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian – March 2, 2023
Gripped by drought, drenched by rain, Mississippi River basin sees climate extremes
By Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier-Journal – Oct. 29, 2022
When It Rains: Our 2022 series on how farmers and communities are responding to increasing heavy rainfall and flooding in the watershed
Study finds that Mississippi River basin could be in an ‘extreme heat belt’ in 30 years
By Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian & Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – Sept. 2, 2022
Summer nights are heating up — and that’s impacting crops and livestock
By Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – Aug. 18, 2022
‘Warmer and wetter’: US’ changing climate helps fuel record Kentucky flooding, experts say
By Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier-Journal – July 29, 2022
Grassroots Air Monitoring Helps People Track Pollution In Their Own Backyards. Those Efforts Are Under Threat in Louisiana
By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press – Jan. 13, 2026
‘Solar for Y’all’ faces hazy future in Louisiana
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator and Halle Parker, WWNO – March 18, 2025
Tribes reach for sun, start from ground up
By Grace Fiori, Buffalo’s Fire – Oct. 31, 2024
Another Midwest drought is causing transportation headaches on the Mississippi River
Kristoffer Tigue, Inside Climate News – Sept. 13, 2024
Controversial grain terminal canceled in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley”
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – Aug. 9, 2024
The U.S. hopes to build more pipelines for carbon capture. Landowners don’t want them
By Eric Schmid, St. Louis Public Radio – Feb. 5, 2024
Nonstop dredging kept the Mississippi River open this year, but moving mountains of sand creates its own problems
By Chloe Johnson, Star Tribune – Dec. 19, 2023
Residents look to St. John Parish history to save a rural stretch of the West Bank from industrialization
By Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens – Sept. 26, 2023
Tax credits jump start Midwest carbon capture projects — but the cost will be in the billions
By Erin Jordan, The Gazette & Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Harvest Public Media – July 6, 2023
Mississippi River shipping infrastructure is aging. Who should pay for the repairs?
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel & Keely Brewer, Daily Memphian – May 19, 2023
Despite national goals, agricultural greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked
By Erin Jordan, The Gazette & Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest – Feb. 16, 2023
Destroying ‘forever chemicals’ is a technological race that could become a multibillion-dollar industry
By Chloe Johnson, Feb. 6, 2023
Research seeks ways to grow solar and crops together in the skeptical Corn Belt
By Sarah Bowman, Indianapolis Star; Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette; and Joshua Rosenberg, The Lens – Sept. 14, 2022
DOWN THE DRAIN: Duck hunters pay into wetland conservation
By
DOWN THE DRAIN: Under new EPA rule, protections would dry up for wetlands across the Mississippi River basin
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout; Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator; Jess Savage, WNIJ; and Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times – Nov. 19, 2025
Iowa monks protect forest while crafting caskets. Federal funds will help them, and others, do more
By Olivia Cohen, The Cedar Rapids Gazette – Sept. 30, 2025
Why Arkansas Wants More Americans to Eat Invasive Carp
By Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times and Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Aug. 13, 2025
‘Highly toxic’ hemlock widespread in Midwest — and spreading
By Olivia Cohen, The Cedar Rapids Gazette – July 30, 2025
Could off-bottom oyster production solve Louisiana’s oyster woes?
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – July 8, 2025
DOWN THE DRAIN: Revised wetlands protection laws in Louisiana, other states open door to development
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – June 25, 2025
DOWN THE DRAIN: Public gives input on how to define – and regulate – nation’s waters and wetlands
By Jess Savage, WNIJ – May 7, 2025
Opting for coexistence: Some Wisconsin landowners learn to live with beavers
By Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch – April 24, 2025
DOWN THE DRAIN: Down the Mississippi River, an altered wetland landscape faces new threats
Series – April 14, 2025
U.S. butterfly population declined 22 percent in two decades
By Olivia Cohen, The Gazette – April, 10, 2025
Proposed legislation aims to protect Mississippi River fisheries
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – March 5, 2025
The Lower Mississippi River’s largest ecosystem restoration project got the federal go-ahead
By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout and Lucas Dufalla, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette – Feb. 10, 2025
Along the Mississippi River, volunteers work to collect and plant acorns to save struggling forests
By Estefanía Pinto Ruiz and Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Dec. 30, 2024
Decades after it disappeared, wild rice is booming again on the upper Mississippi River
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Dec. 9, 2024
Mississippi Reopens Oyster Season After A Five-Year Hiatus
By Illan Ireland, Mississippi, Free Press – Nov. 26, 2024
Oh snap, they’re back! Kansas is releasing giant snapping turtles into waterways in an effort to bring back the endangered species
By Julie Freijat, Flatland/Kansas City PBS – Oct. 2, 2024
Can advocates use a turtle to fight a huge Pearl River engineering project?
By Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press & Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – Sept. 16, 2024
Invasive carp are surging in the Mississippi River. Will people and pets eat them?
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator – July 29, 2024
For a century, this upper Mississippi River refuge has been an ecological oasis. What comes next?
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – June 3, 2024
5 things to know about the Mississippi Flyway as spring bird migration begins
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – May 2, 2024
Environmentalists continue fight against planned power line crossing the Mississippi River
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – March 25, 2024
Billions of cicadas will emerge this spring in the Midwest, Southeast
By Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian & Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette – Feb. 20, 2024
Renewed legislation aims to safeguard Mississippi River amid growing environmental concerns
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Feb. 9, 2024
How clean is the upper Mississippi River? New report finds signs of improvement, emerging threats
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Jan. 9, 2024
Mississippi River mayors rally for a compact to add new legal protections for the waterway
By Keely Brewer, The Daily Memphian – Sept. 20, 2023
The Mississippi River’s floodplain forests are dying. The race is on to bring them back.
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Aug. 7, 2023
Does the Mississippi River have rights?
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WNIJ – June 11, 2023 | Listen on NPR
The Supreme Court could end protections for some wetlands, threatening water and wildlife
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WNIJ – Jan. 30, 2023
Millions spent to keep invasive fish out of the Great Lakes, but who is protecting the Mississippi River?
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WNIJ – Aug. 24, 2022
A federal funding program has helped clean up the Great Lakes. Could it work for the Mississippi River?
By Madeline Heim & Caitlin Looby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – July 27, 2022
What thrashes, poops out taco meat and is taking over the Midwest? Jumping worms
By Eva Tesfaye, Harvest Public Media – July 18, 2022
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – June 27, 2022