U.S. infant formula needs an overhaul, but progress has been slow

More than half of U.S. babies rely on formula for 
nutrition for at least the first 6 months of life.

U.S. baby formula is currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration, an examination considered long overdue by many health professionals, nutrition experts and parents. The FDA plans to "release [its] study results in April examining contaminants in formula and suggested the current list of required nutrients is outdated," reports Sabrina Siddiqui of The Wall Street Journal. 

It's estimated that more than half of babies born in the U.S. rely on infant formula as their primary form of nutrition, with families that are lower income, of color, or rural more likely to use formula. 

 

Through the "Operation Stork Speed” initiative, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he's making a U.S. baby formula overhaul a priority; however, supporters of formula changes believe the promised overhaul has been slow getting off the ground. Siddiqui writes, "Industry representatives and pediatric experts who have consulted. . . on the initiative say communication has slowed and visibility into the process has been limited."

Formulas fed to American babies today have come under scrutiny for containing seed oils, sugar, corn syrup, arsenic and heavy metals. Parent advocacy groups have often pushed for formula recipes to mirror those used in Europe.

But U.S. formula manufacturers defend their use of seed oils "because they provide key fats babies need to grow, including linoleic acid — a nutrient that is also found in breast milk and required in all formulas," Siddiqui explains. Many scientists and physicians contend that it would be difficult to replace seed oils, which are also used in European formulas, and have long been regarded as safe.

USDA can remediate 'forever chemical' pollution on U.S. farmlands, new study shows

The new report found that the USDA can respond to
PFAS contamination on U.S. farmland. (TNL photo)

The Department of Agriculture has the resources to address PFAS contamination on U.S. farmland, a National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine report finds.

The study, which was partially sponsored by the USDA, lists the various tools and remediation planning that can be used to reduce contamination caused by "human-made chemicals that accumulate in the environment and the bodies of humans and animals," which are collectively called "PFAS" or "forever chemicals," reports Shannon Kelleher for The New Lede.

Fertilizer use is one way farmers have unintentionally polluted their soil with forever chemicals. Kelleher explains, "PFAS end up on agricultural lands when farmers apply tainted sewage sludge as a fertilizer, contaminating crops and soil with chemicals linked to certain cancers and other health harms." Forever chemicals can also be added to soil through PFAS-laced pesticides.

The report included a remediation outline and noted that the USDA could leverage its considerable resources to address the farmland PFAS crisis. Researchers suggested the USDA use predictive models, on-site testing and "develop PFAS screening levels for different types of agriculture facilities, soil types and climates," Kelleher reports.

The report also recommends the USDA analyze how forever chemicals interact with different soils and climates to "develop better mechanisms to trap or sequester PFAS, and research ways to minimize the uptake of PFAS in plants and animals," Kelleher writes.

The February Farm Bill draft includes "language that would permit research grants on the agricultural impacts of PFAS in land exposed to firefighting foams, sewage sludge or compost containing the chemicals," Kelleher adds.

Baptists helped found the American debate over the 'separation of church and state'

Photo by Joshua Hoehne, Unsplash

Beginning in America's fledgling colonies during the 1700s and moving into the present day, Baptists have helped shape the national debate over religious freedom in the U.S. for nearly 400 years. "An honest look at their history reveals that Baptists have taken various stances in this debate," writes Christopher Schelin, a political theologies professor for The Conversation.

The ideal of dividing church and state business "famously traces back to an exchange between Thomas Jefferson and a group of Baptists," Schelin writes. But a nascent version of separating church and state powers began years earlier, with a Rhode Island preacher, Roger Williams, who helped found the nation's first Baptist church.

As Baptists practiced their faith in early America, differences in approach to how government and religion intersected emerged. Baptists who believed in strict separation of church and state held that "the conscience of each individual must be respected," Schelin explains. Other Baptists leaned toward an ideal where the "government cooperated with religion."

The historical and current debate between the two perspectives, along with other renditions of what constitutes a balanced relationship between church and state, shapes some of the disagreement about public displays of the Ten Commandments today.

In the fall of 2025, Texas law mandated that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms. Some Texas citizens, including the Rev. Griff Martin, a Baptist pastor, objected to the law and filed suit.

Martin rejects the Ten Commandments mandate as "not just a violation of American precepts but religious ones as well," Schelin writes. In a press release, Martin said that "the separation of church and state (is) a bedrock principle of my family’s Baptist heritage.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Baptist from Louisiana, supports his state's mandate to hang the Ten Commandments in all public schools because he "perceives the matter differently," Schelin adds. "The Louisiana law is not an effort to establish religion, but to acknowledge the country’s 'history and tradition,' Johnson told reporters in 2024."

"Are you a good Baptist if you oppose government-mandated displays of the Ten Commandments?" Schelin asks. "Or are you a good Baptist if you support them? From a historical perspective, the answer to both questions is yes."

Opinion: On the West Texas High Plains, a farm recession from closing cotton gins eats away at rural economies

Part of a ginning business stands out on High Plains
of West Texas. (Floydada Co-op Gin photo)

A farm recession doesn't look like a Wall Street crash. It's quieter, deeper and far more difficult for an agriculturally-based community to recover from, writes Tony St. James in his opinion for RED TV. When a region's farms go under, their disappearance is followed by the loss of "the businesses that once processed, serviced, and supported the crop."

West Texas cotton gins that once flourished and pumped millions of dollars into the state's economy are struggling to survive drought and market volatility. "In 2022, extreme drought forced producers to abandon nearly 74% of planted acres, driving production to the lowest levels seen in decades," St. James explains. While production rebounded in 2023, the farm losses of 2022 were nearly impossible to balance.

After 2022, some farmers had to sell or close their gins. Their consolidation into another gin or complete closings cascaded down to all the equipment dealers, irrigation companies and trucking firms that depended on that gin for work and profits.

Location of Parmer County, Texas,
population 9,870 (Wikipedia map)

"In Parmer County, one cooperative gin has sold, another is unlikely to reopen, and only one large facility remains," St. James writes. "The cotton did not disappear. The infrastructure did. . . . This is what a farm recession looks like on Main Street."

From a state or national perspective, the loss and absorption of gins may not signal any crisis, but for towns centered on cotton, the loss of one or two gins can kill their rural economy.

"Cotton remains central to the Texas economy. . . . But rural infrastructure tends to thin faster than it rebuilds," St. James adds. To survive, some West Texas counties are faced with "rebuilding the backbone of the local economy."

U.S. turf researchers and sod farmers deliver the goods for World Cup 2026

World Cup fields must meet 'FIFA’s exacting standards for ball roll, shock absorption, consistency, player safety and broadcast appearance.' (Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

While Americans may be feeling gloomy about many things, there's still plenty to be proud of and look forward to, including this summer when the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, aka FIFA, "will stage its largest-ever World Cup on North American soil," writes Donavyn Coffey for Offrange.

Among the 16 stadiums where 28 national teams will play, the U.S. gets to showcase its turf scientists and rarely sung sporting heroes—sod farmers. Coffey writes, "Since 2019, FIFA has invested more than $5 million in a partnership with turf scientists at Michigan State University and the University of Tennessee, tasking them to solve a foundational challenge of the tournament: the fields."

What's so great about American farm scientists and sod farmers? They make the turf beautiful, playable, absorption-capable, replaceable and removable. Coffey explains, "All this while remaining as uniform as possible across all 16 sites, indoors and outdoors, from desert heat to northern cold." Cool.

"FIFA’s investment was a windfall for an industry that typically sees far fewer funding opportunities than other branches of agriculture," Coffey adds. Trey Rogers, turf scientist at Michigan State University, told her, "The technology has always been there. . . .We were thrilled to get to put our theories to the test.”

American turf researchers quickly zeroed in on creating "curated resilient grass combinations, grow-light recipes to keep the grass healthy over the 45-day tournament, and a way to build a game-ready grass pitch in under 24 hours," Coffey explains. Their sod-on-plastic-turf has the potential to replace AstroTurf on American football fields and other sod blends blanketing U.S. golf courses.

Sod growers have sometimes faced opposition because opponents feel that using good farmland to grow grass for sporting events rather than food isn't a responsible use of the land. With sod-on-plastics, good farmland isn't needed. 

Rogers told Offrange, "I’ve always said this could be done in the parking lot of an abandoned mall.”

High beef prices are 'the new normal' for Americans

After years without profits, U.S. cattle ranchers resist
growing their herds. (Photo by K. Sikkema, Unsplash)

Even as U.S. consumers keep complaining about high beef prices and government officials, including President Donald Trump, have pressured cattle ranchers to lower their prices, American livestock owners have a message for both groups: Get used to paying more for red meat. Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal reports, "High prices are the new normal in the U.S. beef market."

Roughly five years ago, livestock owners were barely scraping by as they contended with high input prices, drought, wildfires and paltry payments from meatpacking companies. To cut costs, they reduced their herd sizes.

Now that beef prices have consistently risen, and consumer demand has remained robust, "ranchers are reluctant to erode their strongest profits in decades by increasing the size of their herds," Thomas explains. "As a result, the U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level in 75 years."

In January, "ground-beef prices were up 17% from a year earlier, compared with a 2.1% rise for all other groceries over that time," Thomas writes. Beef remains a protein favorite for many Americans who continue to purchase it despite price hikes.

Cattle ranchers, who are finally seeing some profits, have opted to channel money into long-stalled repairs and paying down debts. Other ranchers are investing in breeding plans "that could yield juicier steaks — and possibly land them bigger paydays," Thomas explains. But most don't plan to increase their herd sizes.

All told, U.S. consumers can expect to pay more for beef in the foreseeable future. Thomas adds, "Meatpacking companies have signaled that a smaller beef supply is here to stay."

In search of a quieter and more affordable place to live, many Americans move to largely rural states

The South Dakota website "Dakota Roots" claims the state is "paradise for anyone who loves the outdoors." (Dakota Roots photo)

Several rural states are seeing population growth as Americans leave cities in search of a different lifestyle that includes lower living costs.

"Nearly 15 million Americans moved across the country in 2025, with many opting for quieter and more affordable places to live, according to data company Stora's U.S. Census analysis, reports Kelly McGreal of Fox News. 

 

Saving money and living closer to nature are big factors for many movers. McGreal writes, "About 88% of movers say they're relocating to save money, while 76% are seeking better access to outdoor lifestyles often found in rural areas."

South Dakota, a state with no income tax, had the largest population gains. "The state recorded the largest net migration increase, with nearly 11,000 more people moving in than leaving," McGreal adds. "Other largely rural states also ranked highly, including Vermont, Nebraska, Mississippi and Alaska."

Home prices are also a driving factor. "Home prices in South Dakota average around $310,000, below the national average," McGreal reports. 

 

Gavin Shields, CEO of Stora, told McGreal, "It's no longer just about the house, but about having financial freedom, the ability to buy your own property that comes at a more affordable price, and a lower cost of living."

Maine lawmakers consider a moratorium on data center developments as more towns reject proposals

Maine lawmakers are considering a moratorium 
on data center builds. (Photo by I. Quick, Unsplash)

As data center developers target parts of rural New England for their sprawling compounds, advocates for Maine want answers to questions "about electricity prices, grid reliability, and impact on water resources," reports Julia Tilton of The Daily Yonder. Several Maine communities rejected data center proposals, in part, because Mainers already pay some of the highest electrical rates in the country.

As lawmakers examine the pros and cons of data centers, "one idea floating around Maine’s statehouse is to impose a moratorium on data center development," Tilton explains. "How Maine navigates these challenges could be a model for the rest of New England, which shares an aging electric grid and faces a similar set of circumstances."

Currently, Maine lawmakers are "considering LD 307, a resolution bill that would establish a data center coordination council to provide input and evaluate policy options for data center development in the state," Tilton reports. Passing a state moratorium would prevent larger data center projects from obtaining permits or building until the moratorium ends.

Not all Maine lawmakers agree that a moratorium is the best option. Matt Harrington, a Republican of York, Maine, voiced concerns "that a moratorium 'would harm' a data center development in his district, which includes several towns in the state’s more urban southern region," Tilton writes. Lawmakers suggested they could grant the data center in Harrington's district an exemption.

Questions about the state's grid and its capacity to "feed" data centers without raising residents' utility bills remain a concern. Seth Berry, executive director of Our Power, a Maine-based nonprofit organization advocating for energy democracy, favors the moratorium. He told Tilton, "There are just so many unknowns. We really have to slow this down and step back and look at this massive new development, preferably as a region.”

Trump's order increases the production of controversial herbicide glyphosate

Glyphosate is the most popular
herbicide in the world.

Despite large pockets of concerned Americans and a growing body of scientific research linking the country's most commonly sprayed weedkiller ingredient, glyphosate, to serious health concerns, President Donald Trump issued an "executive order aimed at ramping up production of glyphosate," report Hiroko Tabuchi and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times. The move alarmed supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.

Glyphosate, sometimes sold under the brand name "Roundup," is the world's most popular weedkiller for good reason -- it is extremely effective at annihilating noxious weed growth; however, the ingredient "has been the target of tens of thousands of lawsuits that claim it causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma," Tobuchi and Stolberg explain.

To issue the order to increase domestic glyphosate production, "Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, a 1950s-era law typically used in national emergencies to compel companies to produce certain materials or supplies that the president deems necessary for national security," the Times reports. "Trump declared both glyphosate and phosphorus, used to manufacture the weedkiller, 'critical to the national defense.'"

Some MAHA supporters and environmental activists were infuriated by the move. Vani Hari, a healthy eating advocate and supporter of Kennedy’s nutrition agenda, told the Times, "MAHA voters were promised health reform, not chemical entrenchment."

Meanwhile, Kennedy issued a statement supporting Trump's order, saying it "puts America first where it matters most — our defense readiness and our food supply."

So far, much of the research on glyphosate exposure among people has yielded mixed results. Tobuchi and Stolberg explain, "Late last year, a landmark study that had found glyphosate to be safe 25 years ago was retracted by the scientific journal that published it."

German-based glyphosate maker Bayer has been working for years to resolve its glyphosate litigation. Last week, "it proposed to settle a nationwide class-action lawsuit to resolve claims that its flagship herbicide causes cancer," Thomas reports. "The settlement plan includes setting aside more than $7 billion to fund payments over 21 years."

Opinion: Goat could be added to American diets as a mild, versatile lean protein

Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange

Goat is one of the most internationally consumed types of animal meat, but Americans seem to have skipped goat on the menu. And while there's a list of reasons why Americans are much more likely to eat beef often and goat never, that may be changing, reports Laurel Miller for Offrange. "Goat is increasingly finding favor amongst white consumers in the U.S., primarily those seeking a lean, high-protein or more sustainable meat source."

Part of the reason many Americans don't eat caprine is their uninformed ideas about what goat meat tastes like. Miller explains, "Many Americans avoid goat because of the widespread perceptions that the meat is rank, gamy, or tough." While goat, like other meats, has a distinct flavor, in many cultures, their meat is considered a delicacy.

Brian Palmer, a goat farmer in Salinas, California, told Miller, "There is an understated goat aroma and flavor. But fresh, high-quality goat meat is approachable." Miller adds, "He prefers ethnic recipes like curries or braises that take that flavor into account."

In an age where beef prices are soaring, it might be time for goat meat to emerge as a competitor. Miller writes, "It’s lower in calories, fat, and cholesterol than chicken, pork, beef, and lamb, and, at 27.1 grams of protein per 100 gram serving, falls just behind conventional beef, which is 28.6 grams per serving."

Right now, the U.S. goat meat sector is small, but growing. Miller adds, "Consumer demand and accessibility vary by region, but even with a ready customer base, the numbers aren’t sufficient to galvanize government and other agencies to fund research."

But raising goats is cheaper, easier, and better for the soil than raising cows or sheep. "Goats are low-impact, non-selective browsers, meaning they eat diverse vegetation, including plants that sheep and cows can’t or won’t eat, like noxious weeds," Miller writes. "Because they’re small and nimble, goats can access areas other species can’t, and they’re well-suited to land that won’t support cattle or crops."

After a jarring ICE raid at a horse racing track, residents of a tiny Idaho town measure the aftermath

Agents outside La Catedral Arena, a horse track in Wilder, Idaho, 
Oct. 19, 2025. (Idaho Statesman photo via Mother Jones)

Some residents of Wilder, Idaho, say the town hasn't been the same since federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended on an off-the-beaten-path horse racing track and detained roughly 100 Latinos who were working or attending the races. 

The horse track, known as La Catedral Arena, had been a place where immigrant families gathered to enjoy food and racing together, reports Anna Griffin of The New York Times. Few whites ever attended the races or questioned track activities.

Wilder is located in Canyon
County, Idaho. (Wikipedia)

Sixty percent of Wilder's 1,725 residents are Latino, and most residents take pride in living in harmony. But on Oct. 19, things changed. ICE agents, including a swarm of gun-toting agents on the ground, a helicopter, and the agency's signature SUVs, descended on the track during the busiest time of day. Agents rounded up nearly 100 Latinos and later deported 75.

The raid did more than "crack an alleged gambling ring and increase deportation numbers," the Times reports. "It shattered Wilder’s innocent belief that its out-of-the-way location and deep-red politics could isolate the town from raids." 

Wilder resident Chris Gross, who farms sweet corn seed and mint, expressed concern about how the raid might limit immigrant farm workers. She told Griffin, "We rely on Hispanic labor." 

"The raid 'nearly destroyed' the community, said David Lincoln, a longtime Wilder resident and executive director of a nonprofit economic development agency serving rural towns in western Idaho," Griffen writes. Griffin adds, "Wilder won’t really know the impact until planting season begins this spring."

The day after the raid, at least half of Wilder's students didn't show up for class. Griffin reports, "Gross, who is white, said anyone who sees a black SUV roll through town, regardless of their race, 'freezes up.'" 

Still, the town's mayor, Steve Rhodes, claims the raid "has had 'zero effect' on the town," He told the Times, "These were not our people. What happened out at that track had nothing to do with Wilder.”

30,000 trees and 2,000 volunteers can restore New Orleans' wetlands

Volunteers from the CRCL plant trees as part of
 their Native Plants Program. (CRCL Photo)

Organizers are working to plant 30,000 trees in New Orleans to restore the wetlands around the city that have remained destroyed since Hurricane Katrina, reports Melina Walling for The Associated Press. 

Native trees like bald cypress and water tupelo will keep the land from slipping further below sea level, cultivate a better habitat for wildlife and provide New Orleans with a protective barrier from storms, Walling explains.

After the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made the Mississippi River—Gulf Outlet Canal (MRGO) to use as a shipping channel during the government’s new levee initiative, Walling reports. This canal furthered the damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 by letting saltwater into the freshwater ecosystems around New Orleans, killing many of the trees which held the land in place.

Environmental organizations have formed the Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective to start restoring the land after the MRGO was shut down, and the salt levels were able to normalize. “We’re one part of a larger movement to resist this sort of ‘doomerism’ mindset, and to show that recovery is possible,” Christina Lehew, executive director of one of these organizations, told Walling.

The organizers were able to receive federal and state funding for two large grants to work on the tree planting. 

Many of the organizers experienced the hurricane firsthand, so this initiative has helped them to heal and find hope in future generations.

A startling look at the lack of dialysis treatment options for rural Americans experiencing kidney failure

For the roughly 240,000 rural Americans suffering from kidney failure, or End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), getting to a dialysis center that can deliver consistent, quality care is a struggle. The lack of reliable dialysis for rural ESRD patients has been exacerbated by too few providers within a drivable distance, with some rural residents facing travel across several counties to access dialysis.

The most common dialysis clinics near rural ESRD patients are often owned by DaVita, a "for-profit company with a documented history of kickbacks to doctors and involuntary patient discharges," reports Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder. Involuntary discharges are supposed to be extremely rare and regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

About 22.8 rural Americans – just over half of the total rural population – live in a county where either DaVita is the only clinic, or there is no clinic at all. (Map by Sarah Melotte, Daily Yonder, from CMS data)

In fact, for 6.1 million rural Americans, DaVita is the only Medicare-certified dialysis clinic in their county, according to Melotte's analysis of CMS data. Melotte reports. "Another 16.5 million rural Americans live in a county with no facility at all."

Overall, DaVita and its German competitor, Fresenius, "tend to have worse health outcomes compared to independent, non-profit clinics," Melotte writes. "Duke University’s research found that, after dialysis clinics were acquired by large, for-profit, companies, the likelihood of each patient being hospitalized each month increased by 4.5%."

Using a CMS dialysis facilities dataset, in 300 counties, 190 of which are non-metropolitan, or rural, "DaVita runs the only clinics in the county," according to Melotte's anaysis. "In rural counties, about 31% of clinics are owned by DaVita."

In some rural regions, the lack of dialysis centers is even more dire. "About 59% of rural counties don’t have a single Medicare-certified dialysis clinic," Melotte writes. "In places like rural Central Nebraska or Western Kansas, patients might be several counties away from the nearest clinic."

Report: Pesticides may be driving Midwestern cancer crisis

Map by Ben Felder, IM, sources from Cancer: National Cancer Institute and the CDC, Pesticides: Pesticide National Synthesis Project, from the U.S. Geological Survey

As cancer diagnosis rates among Midwesterners continue to be higher than the national average, a "growing body of research indicates that pesticides are partly to blame," reports Ben Felder of Investigate Midwest. Pesticide use helped U.S. agriculture become an international commodity powerhouse, but that success may be coming at the expense of Midwestern communities.

Because more than half of U.S. cropland is in the Midwest, Midwesterners who don't live in a major metro area are likely to live near a farm that uses pesticides. Felder explains, "Sprayed from airplanes, drones, tractors and handheld devices, these chemicals can drift through the air or run off into nearby rivers and streams."

"Most of the 500 counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile are located in the Midwest," Felder reports. "Sixty percent of those counties also had cancer rates higher than the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to an analysis of data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute."

Lisa Lawler from Hardin County, Iowa, believes that pesticides are the primary driver of cancer diagnoses in her community, including her mother's and her own. Felder writes, "The county is home to around 800 farms, has a pesticide use rate more than four times the national average and a cancer rate among the highest in the state."

Lawler had extensive testing completed to see if her cancer was hereditary. She told Felder, "The genetic test they ran for me was one that covered 81 genes that are typically related to breast cancer. . . .They told me my cancer is likely not genetic, but likely environmental, based on these 81 genes."

Pesticide manufacturers have continued to reject claims that pesticides have any part in regional cancer diagnosis trends. "But scientific research linking pesticides with certain types of cancers has been growing," Felder writes. A 2024 study published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society linked "pesticides to prostate, lung, pancreas and colon cancers. Pesticides have also been associated with lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease."

Smithfield Foods plans $1.3 billion investment in a new pork processing facility in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Smithfield's parent company, WH Group,
is based in China.

Smithfield Foods announced plans to invest $1.3 billion to build a new pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D. "When in operation, the plant is expected to employ about 3,000 workers and be able to slaughter about 20,000 hogs a day," reports Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "The new project replaces Smithfield’s existing, more than 100-year-old facility in the city."

The announcement comes as some U.S. lawmakers and officials have questioned Smithfield's ties to its Chinese parent company, WH Group, which took over the U.S.-owned company in 2013. Thomas writes, "The company has said it is investing in the U.S. and denied accusations that its decisions are influenced by the Chinese government."

Building a new slaughterhouse is expensive and rare in today's competitive market, where meat packers have struggled to glean profits. "Tyson Foods closed one of its largest beef processing plants, in Lexington, Neb., which employed 3,200 people, and cut production at a Texas facility in half."

Compared to 2023 margins, today's pork processors are making a profit. "Over the past year, JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker and Smithfield’s top pork rival, has said it is expanding its pork operations in response to Americans’ growing appetite for protein," Thomas explains.

The company's building plans feature "advanced automation technology and a streamlined design," Thomas adds. "The company said the plant will source about all of its hogs from nearby farmers in South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota."

Tips and resources for reporting on crime data

The CDC has an active dashboard that maps death rates across the country 
by Census tract, county or state. (CDC map)

Tips from a recent webinar with three crime data experts, narrated by Clark Merrefield of The Journalist's Resource, can help local journalists report on crime trends, fact-check law enforcement, discuss policy, and foster a dialogue about community safety. An edited version of Merrefield's tips from the discussion is shared below.

Get to know The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub, which meets three major needs for crime data research and reporting:

• The help desk, where anyone "can ask questions of reporters and editors at The Trace," Merrefield writes. "Reach out for help understanding gun violence in the areas you cover; collecting, cleaning and analyzing data on gun violence."
• A resource page that houses fact sheets, guides, and a glossary, which can aid in investigations of all sizes.
• The data library for "trustworthy data on a range of gun violence topics, from ghost guns to suicide to road rage," Merrefield notes. "The library includes data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Transportation Security Administration and many others."

Explore data focused on public safety research and data:

• The WONDER database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes numbers on gun deaths and compressed mortality data.
• The Gun Violence Archive, which "tracks gun violence incidents across the country from more than 7,500 sources, including law enforcement agencies and news media reports," Merrefield writes.
• The Mapping Police Violence provides up-to-date data on police-involved killings in the U.S. 
• The CDC dashboard, which maps violent death rates across the country by Census tract, county or state. 

 Learn which data can help you fact-check statements from public officials.

"Beyond published data on reported crimes, victimization surveys are a major source of crime data that journalists can use to vet statements from officials," Merrefield explains. "The best known is the National Crime Victimization Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. This survey each year reaches a nationally representative sample of roughly 240,000 people and asks whether they have been victims of personal or property crimes — and why the crime was or wasn’t reported to police."

To identify trends in a specific area, aim for at least 5 years of data.

If data doesn't make sense, question it. If it can't be verified, don't use it.

Merrefield's webinar panel experts included: Jeffrey A. Butts, a research professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Executive Director of the John Jay Research and Evaluation Center; Mensah M. Dean, a staff writer at The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom that covers gun violence; and George LeVines, editor of The Trace’s Gun Violence Data Hub, which is open to the public. 

America's aging farmers often don't have a family member to take over the family farm

As farmland changes hands, there will be far fewer family
farms in the U.S. (Photo by Johny Goerend, Unsplash)

Whether it's the unpredictable income, politics or little love for manual labor, many children of today's aging American farmers don't want to run the family farm. "There are more farmers 75 and older than under the age of 35. They are facing tough choices," reports Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "Thousands across the U.S. are closing the book on farms that have been in their families for generations."

In today's farming economy, many farmers depend on federal bailouts, and even with that support, some still won't turn a profit. As a result, many farming families are selling their lands or claiming bankruptcy. 

Don Guinnip, a fifth-generation corn and soybearn farmer in Marshall, Illinois, doesn't think the future of family farms and their surrounding communities will be "pretty," Thomas writes. He told Thomas, "When farmers owned the land and lived on the land, they took care of the land and they formed communities that worked together and solved problems and took care of everybody. You’re not going to have that in the future.”

Like many children of farming families, Guinnip's children left the farm to attend college and move to bigger cities for professional careers. Thomas explains, "Children of farmers today have more opportunities to work beyond agriculture than they did decades ago, and families are typically smaller, shrinking the pool of possible candidates."

Seventy-four-year-old Guinnip thinks "he can maintain the current workload for a couple more years," Thomas writes. "He contemplates a day when a Guinnip no longer cares for the land that runs along Guinnip Road."

What will it take to pass a new federal Farm Bill? The last one was approved in 2018.

A new Farm Bill will have to work around political
flashpoints. (Graphic by Adam Dixon, Offrange)

The last Farm Bill was passed by Congress in 2018, but political divisions over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding and farm subsidies have prevented lawmakers from agreeing on a new Farm Bill, leaving sectors that depend on the massive omnibus package relying on extensions for authorized funding, reports Clare Carlson for Offrange. Farm policy experts say any new Farm Bill will have to navigate around conflicts to address an evolving set of farming and rural needs.

Mike Lavender, a policy director at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, told Carlson that as the number of U.S. farms has shrunk, and the size of the remaining farms has grown, what farmers need in a Farm Bill has changed.

As politicians continue to battle over SNAP and subsidies, those two entities only "make up two of the Farm Bill’s 12 titles, which include research, conservation, forestry, and rural development," Carlson reports. "The programs under those other 10 titles are what get neglected, Lavender said, hurting farmers and rural communities in the process."

With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, SNAP funding was separated from the Farm Bill and "wrapped into budget reconciliation bills," Carlson explains. OBBA cut SNAP’s budget by 20% while "doubling funding to subsidy programs for commodities like soybeans, wheat, and corn."

Michael Happ, a program associate at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, told Offrange, “We might be living in a post-Farm Bill world right now where we just pass farm policy through budget bills and we leave out a lot of really important research and programs that help farmers."

Meanwhile, House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson "pledged to complete a five-year farm bill in committee by the end of February, as lawmakers try to bridge political divides that have stalled the legislation," reports Marc Heller of E&E News. "Thompson (R-Pa.) told state agriculture officials that finishing the bill. . . is his top priority."

Carlson adds, "Without a Farm Bill, food and agricultural policy could be left to the whims of whichever party controls the White House. . . . Planning for the future is also a lot harder for farmers without a Farm Bill."

Neighbors in Maine volunteer to build window inserts for each other to fight the winter cold

Students in Vermont build a WindowDresser insert. 
(Photo by Andrew McKeever, The Yonder )

Harsh winters in Maine can make it hard to keep the cold air outside from creeping into the older New England style homes. WindowDressers is a community-based heating solution that keeps warm air inside by inserting an insulated wooden window into a home or commercial window frame, Andrew McKeever reports for The Daily Yonder.

The concept started in a church in Rockland, Maine, which was losing heat due to its leaky aluminum-clad windows. Church member Richard Cadwgan decided to build window inserts for the church windows, which he learned about at a Midcoast Green Collaborative conference, a Maine-based nonprofit organization. Cadwgan told McKeever the window inserts were a “win-win-win – lower heating bills, fewer carbon emissions, and greater comfort in the cold winter months.”

After word spread to other community members, Cadwgan and former congregation president Frank Munro took orders for 185 inserts for homes the next year, and 1,231 inserts the year after. With so many orders, more volunteers were needed, so “community builds” were formed. Now, there are 52 community builds throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Community builds allow for volunteers with no prior carpentry experience to help build the window inserts after just a brief instruction from their team leader, McKeever explains. Jim Salsgiver, one of the original organizers, told McKeever, “I love the builds and getting together, meeting new people. What’s so cool is somebody comes in and says, ‘Okay, well I signed up, but what do I do?’ And, you know, after three hours, they’re acting like pros doing it and excited about it and telling their friends.”

As of 2024, at least 78,600 inserts have been made, saving almost 4 million gallons of heating fuel.

Wyoming officials aim to keep the state's Rural Health Transformation Program award going in 'perpetuity'

Wyoming is the most sparsely populated state in
the U.S. (Photo by Karsten Koehn, Unsplash)

As Wyoming's rural hospitals struggle to make ends meet and hire enough medical providers, state officials have hatched a plan using money from its Rural Health Transformation Program funds to buffer losses, create more robust provider training and incentives, while using investments to help the money stretch for decades, reports Arial Zionts of KFF Health News.

If Wyoming's plan receives federal approval to invest a substantial portion of its $205 million award, the state's "Rural Health Transformation Perpetuity fund could provide $28.5 million for the state to spend every year," Zionts explains. "Wyoming would spend the money on scholarships for health students and incentive payments to help keep small hospitals and rural ambulance services afloat."

The federal RHTP program requires states to spend their awards by established deadlines, or the money will be shelled out to other states. The question is, will the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which manages RHTP, see placing the money in an investment account as "spending it."

Stefan Johansson, the director of Wyoming’s health department, thinks it will. "He said that CMS called in December to specifically ask questions about the fund and that he believes the agency has formally approved it," Zionts reports. "But 'the devil’s always in the details,' he said, as the state works with CMS during the budget review period."

CMA has already told some states that RHTP grants "cannot be used to 'generate income.'" Zionts adds. "Wyoming officials wrote in the state’s application that the perpetuity fund won’t be making or keeping any profit. . . .Other states proposed funds in their applications, but Wyoming’s appears unique, according to a KFF Health News review of state applications."

This robot helps rural seniors stay healthier and allows them to live independently longer

ElliQ is designed to be a companion and helper.
(Intuition Robotics photo)

In more remote parts of the country, residents can go for days without seeing another human. But as people age, going without human connection can be lonely and potentially dangerous. For some rural seniors living in isolation in Washington state, participating in a pilot program that pairs them with a robot companion offers a potential solution, reports Eli Saslow of The New York Times.

Jan Worrell, 85, is participating in the pilot so she can continue living alone in her home, which sits on an isolated strip of the Long Island Peninsula. Firefighters came to Worrell's home and installed her new robot partner: "ElliQ."

One of ElliQ's initial greetings to Worrell sounded like a new friend's introduction. Saslow writes, "'Oh, I’m so thrilled to meet you,' ElliQ said. 'I was worried they’d deliver me to the wrong house! I’m excited to start our journey together.'"

"A few thousand ElliQs have been shipped to seniors across the United States since 2023. . . . by nonprofits and state health departments as an experiment in combating loneliness," Saslow reports. "ElliQ is designed for the most human act of all: to become a roommate, a friend, a partner."

Initially, Worrell didn't want help or company at home. "That’s what she told her relatives whenever they gently suggested that maybe it was time to move into a care center, or closer to family," Saslow adds. "But despite her strength and stubborn independence, her doctors had warned that living alone sometimes came at a cost." Loneliness can be deadlier than many chronic diseases.

Now, ElliQ keeps Worrell company by providing conversation, medication reminders, playing music and asking questions. Saslow writes, "It has been designed to read a room, calculate moods and then decide when to speak and what to say."

Report for America seeks service-minded journalists and photographers: Application deadline is Feb. 16

Report for America, the national service program that places early-career and experienced journalists and photographers in local newsrooms to report on under-covered topics and communities, is accepting applications for new corps members.

The application deadline is Feb. 16, with references due by Feb. 23. The upcoming program start date is July 13. Apply here.

If you are passionate about service-minded journalism, you might be a good fit for one of RFA's 70 journalism positions open in newsrooms of all types, including digital startups, daily and weekly newspapers, and radio and TV stations. An interactive database of their openings, newsrooms and reporting beats is found here.

Report for America is a two-year program, with an optional third year. Their members are part of a national movement to strengthen communities and democracy through truthful, fair local journalism.

Answers to commonly asked questions can be found by reading FAQs. Contact the Report for America recruitment team at recruitment@reportforamerica.org. 

Community newspaper publishers voice frustration over USPS costs and delivery delays

Delayed newspapers can hurt a publisher's bottom line.
(Photo via NiemanLab)

U.S. Postal Service cost-cutting measures and process changes have slowed some local newspaper deliveries to a crawl, leaving frustrated local publishers searching for solutions, reports Sophie Culpepper of NiemanLab.

Smaller, more rural newspapers often use USPS because it is cheaper than hiring newspaper carriers; however, over the past decade, USPS has repeatedly raised postal rates even as its reliability decreased. Culpepper writes, "By the USPS’ own measurement, about 20% of periodicals were delivered late nationally between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2025, up from around 15% delivered late during the same period in 2024."

The Midcoast Villager in Maine is a community newspaper that is the "primary or only local news source for most of the 80,000 residents of Maine’s Knox and Waldo Counties," Culpepper writes. The Villager has tracked papers that are a week or more late. Delayed delivery can irritate readers, who may choose to drop their subscriptions. "Small local publishers can’t afford those losses, and they have little visibility into — or control over — the delays hurting their bottom lines."

The Villager's publisher, Willy Blackmore, shared his frustration with USPS in his 2025 editorial: "It bears mentioning that the Postal Service is just that, a service, and not a business that has historically had or needs a profit motive, but it is a service that the Villager spends over $49,000 on annually, and we decidedly are not getting what we pay for."

Rural papers in South Dakota are facing a similar struggle. David Bordewyk, the executive director of the South Dakota NewsMedia Association, told Culpepper, "I’m confident in telling you…100% of our newspapers are having problems with delivery."

In December, a National Newspaper Association delegation met with Postmaster General David Steiner, who used to be a paperboy, to discuss ongoing challenges and request a process for newspapers to enter into the Postal Service’s "delivery measurement system," which includes scans and barcodes that could track a newspaper from beginning to end.

In an update to NNA members, Matt Paxton, a publisher who attended the meeting with Steiner, wrote, "Postmaster General Steiner was attentive. But didn’t indicate that he plans to deviate at this time from the USPS’s Delivering for America Plan."

Carbon credits create a way for farmers falling into debt to keep their land

Carbon credits can provide cattle farmers with a new
source of income. (Photo by Bernd Dittrich, Unsplash)

Farmers facing drought, inflation or labor shortages often sell their generational land rather than go into debt, reports Yusuf Khan of The Wall Street Journal. In some states, cattle producers are filling financial gaps by using regenerative farming techniques that generate farm income through carbon credit payments. 

Frates Seeligson, who farms outside of Nixon in south Texas, told Khan he has seen cash-strapped ranchers sell their land to developers rather than go into the red.

“If you look at the business model of agriculture it’s somewhat broken,” Seeligson told Khan. “It’s capital and labor intensive with a very small return, and then you’re subject to the whims of nature." Texas has been facing drought conditions in many regions since 2021.

To combat ranchers' ongoing financial struggles, a carbon credit developer Grassroots Carbon is paying cattle farmers like Seeligson to use regenerative agriculture techniques aimed at trapping carbon in their soil, Khan explains. Backed by companies like Microsoft, Nestle and Chevron, Grassroots sells carbon credits for between $40 and $65 per ton, which have a lifetime of 100 years. 

One of the techniques Grassroots promotes is rotational grazing to keep livestock from overgrazing, Khan explains. “Rotational grazing is a common practice in farming, but Grassroots suggests ranchers rotate more often, sometimes daily and on smaller properties, multiple times a day.” For example, Seeligson now uses 28 temporary pastures, as opposed to his previous nine permanent ones.

The benefits aren’t limited to just storing carbon, though, according to Allen Williams, a researcher and rancher studying regenerative agriculture. Healthier grasses also make for healthier herds, growing herd pregnancy rates. Additionally, a “1% increase in soil organic matter can help soils to hold up to roughly 20,000 additional gallons of water per acre, an important factor in avoiding flooding,” a study from 2021 shows.

A Chinese-owned glass plant in Ohio is 'clobbering' its American competitors

Despite the economic boost that foreign investment can bring U.S. manufacturing, its outcomes can sometimes have negative consequences when a foreign-owned company "clobbers" its longtime American-owned competitor. 

"The rise of a Chinese automotive-glass plant in the Ohio heartland shows the risks when America’s biggest rival sets up shop," reports Gavin Bade of The Wall Street Journal.

Over the past decade, Fuyao Glass America has chipped away at its competitor's edge. "Vitro, the company that owns a plant in Crestline, Ohio, has spent the past year considering whether to shut down," Bade writes. "Fuyao is threatening about 250 jobs at the rival glass factory [that has been] operating since the 1950s."

When Chinese automotive glass maker, Fuyao, partnered with state and federal lawmakers to move into an abandoned General Motors factory in tiny Moraine, Ohio, the project "was hailed as a step to reviving a battered Rust Belt region," Bade explains. Ohio taxpayers, who supported Fuyao's move into the region, "now feel duped," according to the report.

Since 2019, Vitro has "shut three auto-glass plants in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Indiana — decisions the company attributes in large part to Chinese competition," Bade reports. American companies like Vitro say they can't compete with Fuyao's pricing and accuse the company of unfair business and labor practices.

A federal raid on the Fuyao plant in 2024 led U.S. authorities to accuse dozens of Chinese business owners of colluding "to facilitate the harboring, transportation, and employment of illegal aliens at various factories,” including Fuyao, which allegedly funneled $126 million to companies in the scheme," Bade writes.

"Fuyao denies any wrongdoing," Bade adds. "Vitro and its Washington allies say Fuyao’s success reflects a way Beijing might try to hollow out American manufacturing capacity and undermine critical industries."