Harvest Public Media Group

GroupAccount image

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

Series image
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.”

Series image
5 Pieces

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

Series image
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.

Series image
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

Caption: City Seeds Program Director Annie Mayrose sits cross-legged between curvy raised beds loaded with potato plants. The 2 ½ acre plot is a standout among burgeoning nationwide efforts to create local food systems that address social problems., Credit: Tim Lloyd / Harvest Public Media
As local food systems evolve, social service agencies are uncovering surprising community benefits in the trend ¬– particularly in some urban cente...

Bought by WMMT, KEOS, WTIP, KUOW, WNIJ and more


  • Added: Jul 12, 2011
  • Length: 04:50
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: Wheatsfield Cooperative Grocery in Ames, Iowa, makes an effort to purchase food grown by local farmers in addition to their other products. The store chooses to support farmers whose land stewardship and farming practices align with their vision of sustai, Credit: Kathleen Masterson / Harvest Public Media
Does buying that tomato from your local farmer vs. one that traveled 1,500 miles from Mexico make a big difference in terms of its environmental im...

Bought by KEOS, WRVO Public Media, WTIP, WNIJ, KIDE Hoopa Tribal Radio 91.3fm and more


  • Added: Jul 12, 2011
  • Length: 04:05
  • Purchases: 7
Caption: Beans and Greens staff-member Jen Brockman speaks with long-time Westside resident Katrina Vincent. Vincent’s daughter is going to volunteer at the market, Credit: Elana Gordon / KCUR
A Kansas city program aimed at making fresh produce cheaper and more accessible has now launched a mobile market. The Beans and Greens mobile mark...

  • Added: Jun 23, 2011
  • Length: 01:02
Caption: Drought has affected wheat growth throughout western Kansas. Some farmers are facing reduced yields, while others are being forced to scrap their harvest all-together. The conditions have resulted in an earlier than usual wheat harvest. , Credit:  Photo by Eric Durban / Harvest Public Media
Global warming? More like global weirding. Historic floods and drought conditions are happening at the same time, setting this up to be a rough ye...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh and New Hampshire Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 22, 2011
  • Length: 03:27
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: PRX default Piece image
The U.S. Department of Agriculture welcomed summer with “MyPlate.” It’s meant to be the new face of health eating and takes the place of the ubiqu...

  • Added: Jun 22, 2011
  • Length: 05:22
Caption: Judy Wu, a Ph.D student at the University of Minnesota, doses some bees with a sugar solution and others with a solution containing a class of pesticides called neonicotinoids., Credit: Photo by Kathleen Masterson / Harvest Public Media
Beginning in the fall of 2006 some beekeepers began reporting losses of as much as 90 percent of their hives --the bees simply disappeared. That's...

Bought by WFIU and KUOW


  • Added: Apr 20, 2011
  • Length: 06:31
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: The road into Cody, Neb., where you will find a bank, a filling station ... but no grocery store. At least not yet., Credit: Photo courtesy Chelsey Fullerton,Cody-Kilgore High School
How far would you drive for a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread? According to the Center for Rural Affairs there are 803 counties in the United Sta...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 29, 2010
  • Length: 02:49
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Photo by Kathleen Masterson / Harvest Public Media
The picture of the American farm is rapidly changing. Mid-sized farms are being carved out and opposite ends of the size spectrum are growing.

  • Added: Dec 29, 2010
  • Length: 03:55
Caption: Eric and Joanna Reuter own Chert Hollow Farm near Columbia, Mo. , Credit: (Photo by Jessica Naudziunas)
Peanuts, eggs, tomatoes, spinach. These foods are just a few nourishing items among many culprits that have made almost seventy-six million America...

  • Added: Dec 29, 2010
  • Length: 03:52
Piece image
In this five-part series, Harvest Public Media has been exploring corn ethanol, and the complex economic, political and the environmental concerns ...

  • Added: Dec 29, 2010
  • Length: 04:54