Reporter Roundtable: Agriculture and the environment
In this April 4, 2013 file photo a central Illinois corn and soybean farmer cultivates his field for spring planting in Waverly, Ill. AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File
Today, we discussed two aspects of an industry that covers much of Illinois: farming. We dove into why the number of Black farm owners and operators has been plummeting in Illinois and around the country since the 1920s. Plus how a warming climate is changing how we farm and the effect of biofuels on the environment.
The 21st was joined by three reporters from Illinois Newsroom, Investigate Midwest, and St. Louis Public Radio.
GUESTS:
Amanda Pérez Pintado
Agriculture Reporter, Investigate Midwest through Report for America
Dana Cronin
Agriculture Reporter, Illinois Newsroom and Harvest Public Media
Shahla Farzan
Reporter, St. Louis Public Radio | Ph.D. ecologist
“This provides pretty good evidence that the direction that we’ve gone by mandating more corn ethanol production is only making climate change worse."
— Dana Cronin (@DanaHCronin) February 17, 2022
My latest for @HarvestPM @ILPublicMedia:https://t.co/YieDYGfKui
Winters are getting warmer across the Midwest. That’s affecting farmers (via @ShahlaFarzan) https://t.co/xjuSayYtxu
— Harvest Public Media (@HarvestPM) February 21, 2022
In 1920, there were about 890 Black producers in Illinois. Now, Illinois has over 70,000 farms, but only 188 have #blackfarmers #ag https://t.co/mCavDul9f8
— InvestigateMidwest (@IMidwest) February 21, 2022
Prepared for web by Owen Henderson
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