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Eggs cheap as overseas demand for U.S. produce falls

Aug 1, 2017
An oversupply of eggs is driving down prices to record low levels. But what cheers shoppers isn’t always good for farmers. Many producers are just recovering from a devastating bird flu outbreak that struck two years ago. And this is one more hassle to deal with. Click the audio player above to hear the full […]

The agriculture industry urges caution on the NAFTA renegotiation

Jul 17, 2017
The Trump Administration released its objectives for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, our trade deal with Mexico and Canada. President Trump has called NAFTA the worst trade deal ever, citing factory jobs that moved to Mexico. The Trump Administration wants to “maintain existing reciprocal duty-free market access for agricultural goods” and […]

As fewer farmers work the land, the small town way of life fades

Jul 10, 2017
Average farms are growing and adopting new technologies to make ends meet.
Farmer Brandon Biesemeier stands on his herbicide sprayer on his family's land near Haxtun, Colorado.
Luke Runyon/Harvest Public Media and KUNC

This dairy farm's best worker is a robot

Jun 26, 2017
Facing labor shortages, some farms are increasingly using automation to get work done.
Dairy farmer Vickie Baker stands in the holding area in her barn, where cows wait to be milked by a robot. They go through the gate behind her to stand in a cow-sized chamber where the robot attaches milkers to them.
Annie Baxter/Marketplace

In rural Iowa, President Trump plugs 'precision agriculture'

Jun 21, 2017
It’s “Technology Week” at the White House. So, naturally, President Trump is heading to farm country today. If that seems incongruous, you may not know there’s a lot of high-tech stuff going on in the growing field of “precision agriculture.” Farmers are using all sorts of technology to determine the most efficient growing practices, which […]