Small farmers struggle as drought kills vegetables
Small fruit and vegetable farmers throughout the Midwest are struggling with unusual heat and a once-in-decades drought. Some have lost crops, and sales at farmers markets are down.
Agriculture/Farming
Articles
Groups ask for ethanol law break as corn hits record
Livestock and poultry producers formally asked the Obama administration Monday to suspend the nation’s renewable fuels standard because it is causing “severe economic harm” as corn prices surged to a record.
Turf painting spreads as drought ravages lawns
With two-thirds of the nation covered by a drought that stretches from coast to coast, residents and businesses in normally well-watered areas are catching on to the lawn-painting practice employed for years in the West and Southwest to give luster to faded turf.
Indiana farmers unload livestock as drought continues
The ongoing drought is taking its toll on Indiana livestock farmers as they liquidate their inventories.
USDA: Rain likely too late for most of Indiana’s corn
A top federal farm official who spent two days touring drought-stricken Indiana farms said Thursday that most of the state's corn crop is in such bad shape that this week's rainfall likely won't boost yields.
USDA official to visit Indiana farms amid drought
Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Undersecretary Michael Scuse will travel to Indiana on Wednesday and Thursday to tour drought-stricken farm fields in Allen and White counties in northern Indiana and Johnson County south of Indianapolis.
Indianapolis nears record for driest 45-day period
If the forecast for no rain on Monday holds up, the 45-day rainfall total would match a stretch in August and September 1908 that's the city's driest since the weather service started keeping records in the 1870s.
State delays expanding water shortage warning
Indiana officials on Thursday decided against expanding a water shortage warning even though more than 80 percent of the state is in a severe drought.
USDA reports corn in 18 states hurt by drought
Corn and soybean prices surged Monday after the latest government report showed a widespread drought in the middle of the country is hurting this year's crop. Indiana and Illinois have been particularly hard hit.
Drought brings added challenges for not-for-profit farms
The parched conditions have forced staff and volunteers at dozens of not-for-profit farms and community gardens to struggle with problems as basic as finding water.
Drought deals blow to ethanol industry
Indiana’s 13 plants distilling the automotive fuel ethanol could soon be sputtering as drought dries up the supply and boosts the price of corn, their main ingredient.
Purdue: Food price increases likely after long drought
The persistent hot, dry weather has hit farm production in Indiana, the nation's fifth-largest producer of corn, harder than any other major corn and soybean producing state.
Drought could have mixed impact for Indiana farmers
Agriculture experts say some Indiana farmers are already facing big crop losses because of this summer's drought.
Drought sets records for Indianapolis, Evansville
Last month was the driest June on record for Indianapolis and Evansville, the National Weather Service says. Weather service figures show both cities received less than half as much rain as their previous records.
Heat wave wilting corn supplies, boosting prices
Corn supplies in the United States, the world’s biggest exporter, are declining at the fastest pace since 1996 just as a Midwest heat wave damages the world’s largest harvest for a third consecutive year.
Indiana drought worsening after scant rainfall
The Thursday morning update of the federal government's U.S. Drought Monitor map shows that about 90 percent of Indiana is abnormally dry and that nearly 40 percent of the state is now in the midst of a moderate drought.
Indianapolis fighting spread of ash borer in parks
Crews are treating ash trees in Indianapolis' city parks to combat the spread of the tree-killing emerald ash borer.
Purdue Extension starts food-hub discussion in central Indiana
Spawned at least in part by the “eat local” and organic-food movements, the regional facilities provide one-stop shops for consumers and farmers alike.
15 percent of Indiana listed in moderate drought
Abnormally dry conditions cover half of Indiana, with 15 percent of the state officially in a moderate drought, and weather experts don't believe the rain that's expected the next few days will bring significant relief.
Indiana’s corn crop faces stress from heat, drought
An agricultural expert says Indiana's recent hot, dry weather is likely taking a toll on the state's young corn crop.