Investigate Midwest

John Deere is the largest player in the U.S. agricultural machinery market, accounting for nearly 35% of sales, according to Farm Action. Its grip is even stronger in major equipment markets such as large tractors and combines. Now the company is pushing further beyond machinery, into farm data, software and AI. On Sept. 1, Deere […] The post John Deere dominates farm machinery. Now it’s moving deeper into farm data and AI. appeared first on Investigate Midwest.

This year, a Pennsylvania dairy farm with roots reaching back to before the Civil War shut down. Its closure is part of a decades-long decline: the U.S. has been losing more than 2,100 dairy farms, on average, every year since 2003. But the U.S. dairy industry is not shrinking. It is producing more milk from […] The post Milk production is up despite decades-long decline in US dairy farms appeared first on Investigate Midwest.

A denim-clad rancher poses on horseback, crimson-red shirt against a hazy blue sky. A farmer in a T-shirt stands surrounded by his crop, leaves bending toward weathered hands. “Real Americans wear cotton,” reads bold text over a photo of a sprawling white field. This Americana-laden imagery came in an X post from Agriculture Secretary Brooke […] The post USDA wants to revive the cotton industry. Experts aren’t sure that’s possible. appeared first on Investigate Midwest.

On the western edge of Oklahoma City, just south of Route 66 and the city limits of Yukon, Pencia Truhan built the retirement she had always dreamed of. Her five-acre property is home to rescue horses, chickens and, most recently, a pig, surrounded by a spring-fed pond, scattered homes and open farmland. But part of […] The post A loophole leaves Oklahoma data center water consumption largely untracked appeared first on Investigate Midwest.

The U.S. cattle herd has fallen to its lowest level in more than 75 years, and some industry experts warn that another major beef packing plant could shut down as a result. Years of persistent drought have degraded pasture conditions across much of the country, leaving many ranchers with no choice but to sell more […] The post Low cattle numbers raise fears of another beef packing plant shutdown appeared first on Investigate Midwest.