Wild bee decline threatens US crop production

The first national study to map U.S. wild bees suggests they're disappearing in many of the country's most important farmlands—including California's Central Valley, the Midwest's corn belt, and the Mississippi River valley.

Is ethanol better for the environment than gas?

Dear EarthTalk: Where does ethanol as an automobile fuel fit into the alternative energy mix? Is it better for the environment than gasoline? (Donna Allgaier-Lamberti; Pullman, Mich.)

Reduced soil tilling helps both soils and yields

Agriculture degrades over 24 million acres of fertile soil every year, raising concerns about meeting the rising global demand for food. But a simple farming practice born from the 1930's Dust Bowl could provide a solution, ...

New discovery turns seaweed into biofuel in half the time

University of Illinois scientists have engineered a new strain of yeast that converts seaweed into biofuel in half the time it took just months ago. That's a process that's important outside the Corn Belt, said Yong-Su Jin, ...

Prairies vanish in the US push for green energy

Robert Malsam nearly went broke in the 1980s when corn was cheap. So now that prices are high and he can finally make a profit, he's not about to apologize for ripping up prairieland to plant corn.

Easing ethanol mandate could have cut corn prices during drought

By relaxing a federal ethanol mandate, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could have counteracted the impact of the 2012 drought on corn prices, a new study by University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural economists ...

Changes in crops acres since freedom to farm

The 1996 U.S. Farm Bill eliminated many acreage restrictions, thereby allowing farmers to plant what they believe to be their most competitive crops. A study conducted by University of Illinois agricultural economists evaluated ...

Asia, US plains facing water extraction crisis

Heavily-populated regions of Asia, the arid Middle East and parts of the US corn belt are dangerously over-exploiting their underground water supplies, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

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