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Articles on Corn

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A flash drought in 2012 dried out soil, harming crops in Kansas and several other states. John Moore/Getty Images

Farmers face a soaring risk of flash droughts in every major food-growing region in coming decades, new research shows

If greenhouse gas emissions continue at a high rate, breadbaskets of Europe and North America will see a 50% chance of a flash drought each year by the end of this century.
Soybean plants on an Arkansas farm. Those at left show signs of damage from dicamba; others at right were planted later in the season. Washington Post via Getty Images

The herbicide dicamba was supposed to solve farmers’ weed problems – instead, it’s making farming harder for many of them

Farmers are stuck in a chemical war against weeds, which have developed resistance to many widely used herbicides. Seed companies’ answer – using more varied herbicides – is causing new problems.
Most U.S.-grown soybeans are genetically modified, so products containing them may be required to carry the new ‘bioengineered’ label. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

What is bioengineered food? An agriculture expert explains

There’s a new label on many US food products – here’s what it means and who pushed to add it.
In the 19th century, there was a campaign to link the Thanksgiving holiday to the Pilgrims. Bettman/Getty Images

The first Thanksgiving is a key chapter in America’s origin story – but what happened in Virginia four months later mattered much more

The communion between Native Americans and the Pilgrims makes for a compelling narrative. But it masks the suspicions and brewing violence that were far more representative of the era.
A center-pivot sprinkler with precision application drop nozzles irrigates cotton in Texas. USDA NRCS/Wikipedia

Farmers are depleting the Ogallala Aquifer because the government pays them to do it

An invisible crisis is brewing in US farm country as the overpumped Ogallala-High Plains Aquifer drains. The key drivers are federal farm subsidies and the tax code.
Soybean seeds treated with neonicotinoids (blue) and treated corn seeds (red) versus untreated seeds. Ian Grettenberger/PennState University

Why it’s time to curb widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides

US farmers are planting more and more acres with seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides. An ecologist explains why this approach is overkill and may be doing more harm than good.

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