agriculture

Stress over weather and markets to sell their products has endangered family farms. And now, state funding for farmer mental health counseling is gone — not among the items renewed in this year’s budget.

The decision comes after years of outcry from some farmers that the cost of labor, transportation and housing for H-2A workers was making it impossible to break even.

On a remote island in Lake Michigan, some old apple trees could have very rare, never-before-discovered genes. And if they do, they could join the U.S. stockpile of apples poised to fight off future threats.

Northern Michigan’s agriculture industry is feeling the impact of rising costs, supply shortages and less research funding, among other things that benefit farmers.

Waste from the energy-producing digester was at the center of the disagreement.

Among the hundreds of barns that still dot our landscape across northern Michigan, one special wood relic on Old Mission Peninsula stood out - and it’s recently been recognized as a Barn of the Year. Find out why in this audio tour with IPR.

Rural residents are left holding the bills for everything from solar panels to grain dryers.

The conflict has led to a lot of questions and confusion, and could be discussed at a meeting this week.

Americans stepped up to do something about dying bees. Beekeeping is all the rage right now. But what if all those backyard colonies are making the problem worse?

Industrial agriculture in the Upper Midwest has been a driving force behind wetland loss. The farm bill might hold a solution.