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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LEDE: Every year, over 100,000 American horses are eaten abroad. We stopped slaughtering horses in this country five years ago. But since then, we ...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 20, 2012
  • Length: 04:07
  • Purchases: 1
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Southbound barges on the Mississippi River carry grain destined for world markets. Those barges regularly pass northbound tows with thousands of t...

  • Added: Dec 19, 2012
  • Length: 03:29
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The United States is the world’s leading corn producer…and exporter, supporting the increasing demand for meat in China, India and other countries ...

Bought by KFAI Minneapolis, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 26, 2012
  • Length: 03:51
  • Purchases: 3
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Debate surrounding what we eat and how it’s made is nothing new. But in this year of outcry over pink slime, criticism regarding gestation crates, ...

  • Added: Nov 26, 2012
  • Length: 04:54
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HOST LEAD: Across the Corn Belt, farmland is selling at record high prices. Just last month [OCTOBER 2012] an 80-acre tract in Sioux City, Iowa wen...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 09, 2012
  • Length: 05:02
  • Purchases: 1
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INTRO: In recent years, there’s been a concerted push – at the local and national levels – to make healthy food more widely available, particularly...

  • Added: Nov 09, 2012
  • Length: :49
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HOST INTRO: Thanks to improving technology, the food industry is getting better and better at detecting problems in the food supply, such as e coli...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 09, 2012
  • Length: 05:12
  • Purchases: 1
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While many farmers were bringing in this year’s harvest, they also were planting. Cover crops—like oats and winter rye—are becoming more popular ac...

Bought by KFAI Minneapolis and WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 09, 2012
  • Length: 03:48
  • Purchases: 2
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Farmers and weeds are in a constant competition. It’s a race that swings back and forth, but when the herbicide called Roundup came along it gave f...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 09, 2012
  • Length: 03:59
  • Purchases: 1
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In parts of the lower Midwest while water-starved crops have collapsed, the farmers have not. Most of them have survived, and as Harvest Public Med...

Bought by WAMC Northeast Public Radio


  • Added: Oct 11, 2012
  • Length: 05:18
  • Purchases: 1