Harvest Public Media Group

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OUR MISSION:   Global demand for food is rising, and the push and pull for resources has serious ramifications for our country’s economic recovery and prosperity. Today’s emerging agenda for agriculture is headlined by energy and climate change, food safety, biofuels, animal production and welfare, human health, water quality, and local food systems. By examining these local, regional and national issues and their implications, Harvest Public Media has created a rich multimedia resource devoted to food, agriculture and rural issues.

HOW WE REPORT:   Most Harvest Public Media stories begin with radio — regular reports are aired on our six member stations in the Midwest. But Harvest also explores issues through online analyses, television reports, podcasts, photography, video, blogs and social networking.  

FUNDING:   Harvest Public Media is a collaboration of public media stations across the Midwest and is funded by those stations. Initial funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. 

PARTNER STATIONS: KCUR inKansas City (lead station); Iowa Public Radio; Nebraska Public Media; WILL in Illinois; St. Louis PUblic Radio; KOSU in Oklahoma City

Series

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2 Pieces

For the Midwest farmer, every year is unique. Early spring. Long, cold winter. Sizzling heat wave. Mother Nature throws up constant curve balls. So, honestly, what’s the big deal about climate change? Well, that’s what we’re exploring here at Harvest Public Media in our ongoing series “Climate Pains: America’s Breadbasket braces for change in the weather.”

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5 Pieces

In a five-part special report, Harvest Public Media asks: Just who will be the U.S. farmer of the future?

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6 Pieces

Americans seem to be spending a lot of time talking about how and what they eat. Credit the local food movement for much of this discussion. From home gardens to farmers markets to a concern about food miles, Americans are connecting to food in new ways. Some “lovacores” even advocate for food systems to be rebuilt on the premise of a local food advantage.

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5 Pieces

In this five-part series, Harvest Public Media explores the American ethanol industry and its impact on consumers and rural communities. The first three parts of this series aired on NPR’s Morning Edition, and the entire series is free for download and broadcast. You can find an online package HERE; please link back to this on your station’s site should you air any part of this series. Doing so will help support Harvest’s mission to produce high quality agriculture and biofuel journalism for public media.


Pieces

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Just as the local foods movement is growing legs in Midwest, a key piece of infrastructure is struggling. Challenges in finding laborers and making...

  • Added: Dec 14, 2011
  • Length: 03:41
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It’s estimated that some 20 percent of the nation’s farmers are working the land with some type of physical disability. That compares with 6 percen...

Bought by Kansas Public Radio and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 14, 2011
  • Length: 06:04
  • Purchases: 2
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Organic farming in the Midwest remains a small portion of the farming industry, even as demand for organic products has grown. But a new study show...

  • Added: Dec 14, 2011
  • Length: 03:41
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Americans are buying more alternatively raised meat — organic, natural, grass-fed AND THE LIKE. But in general, large-scale cattle producers in the...

  • Added: Dec 14, 2011
  • Length: 05:09
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Consumers are paying more attention to where their food comes from. But the govt labeling agency isn't always keeping up… A quick stop at your groc...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio and WFIU


  • Added: Dec 14, 2011
  • Length: 04:49
  • Purchases: 2
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is finalizing guidelines for what school meals should look like. However the overhaul has turned into a shadow o...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 14, 2011
  • Length: 04:38
  • Purchases: 1
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In western Kansas, many farmers can’t just look to the skies for water to nourish their crops. They also dig down to the Ogallala Aquifer to supple...

Bought by High Plains Public Radio and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 14, 2011
  • Length: 03:29
  • Purchases: 2
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he debate on the farm bill – up for grabs every five years -- is always a push-pull of interests. But this year the stakes are staggering as Congre...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 28, 2011
  • Length: 03:45
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Drew Wilber, 14, works on his family's farm near Boone, Iowa., Credit: PPeggy Lowe/Harvest Public Media
Those beautiful bucolic scenes you drive by mask something ugly: kids as young as 15 who work in crop production are six times more likely to be ki...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 28, 2011
  • Length: 03:27
  • Purchases: 2
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One thing Iowa famers and Texas farmers have in common right now is a lack of hay. Iowa farmers have less alfalfa because they planted more acres o...

  • Added: Oct 18, 2011
  • Length: 03:14