"More than 1,000 counties in 26 states are being named natural-disaster areas, the biggest such declaration ever by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as drought grips the Midwest."
"WASHINGTON -- The worst Midwest drought in a quarter century is doing more damage to U.S. crops than previously expected with the government on Wednesday slashing its estimate for what was supposed to be a record harvest."
Under FOIA, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility requested FDA documents justifying its use of categorical exclusions to avoid assessing the environmental impact of not regulating livestock antibiotics. After FDA failed to provide any, PEER filed a lawsuit in federal district court.
"A record drought in northern Mexico has prompted warnings that the region's climate may have changed for good."
"For two centuries, the town of Hermann has been known for the Missouri River. But now the river is making Hermann known for an unexpected reason: It is a hot spot for nitrate. Despite three decades of costly efforts to clean it up, the levels at Hermann have increased 75 percent since 1980."
"ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michael J. Potter is one of the last little big men left in organic food. More than 40 years ago, Mr. Potter bought into a hippie cafe and 'whole earth' grocery here that has since morphed into a major organic foods producer and wholesaler, Eden Foods."
"HARTFORD CITY, Ind. -- Across a wide stretch of the Midwest, sweltering temperatures and a lack of rain are threatening what had been expected to be the nation’s largest corn crop in generations."
"Wheat prices rose Wednesday as the hot, dry summer continued to take its toll on crops in the U.S. and Russia."
One starting point to covering agriculture — and the health implications of land and water use — is to follow the money using Environmental Working Group's major database tool. Any reporter covering the ag-environment link should know about it.
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