Nov 24 Watch 8:45 Are pesticides to blame for the massive bee die-off? By PBS News Hour Commercial beekeepers across America have been struggling with great numbers of bee deaths over the past few years. What’s behind their failing health? Some research points to a class of pesticide that’s coated onto a large proportion of corn and… Continue watching
Nov 24 Move over turkey. Here comes the Thanksgiving ham By Vikram Mansharamani Can you imagine a Christmas ham on your Thanksgiving dinner table in place of the traditional turkey? It’s a scenario some agricultural economists have been worrying about for months. Continue reading
Nov 13 Why do potatoes grow pink slime? By Alexandra Sarabia Scientists find that pink slime on potatoes is a ‘space suit’ for one bacterium, but also a possible weapon against antibiotic-resistant microbes. Continue reading
Oct 19 Global seed bank opens 'doomsday vault' to deliver Syrian varieties to safety By Gretchen Frazee Walking through dark, grey tunnels carved 400 feet into the base of a mountain in the Arctic Circle, researchers did something that hadn’t been done since the “doomsday vault” was built in 2008. Instead of putting containers into the vault,… Continue reading
Oct 17 Watch 9:15 Why Kentucky farmers are quitting tobacco and turning to an unlikely new crop By PBS News Hour A Farm Bill passed by Congress last year included an amendment granting states and universities the right to research hemp. Several states have since started research projects, but Kentucky is at the forefront, experimenting with creating a new industry around… Continue watching
Oct 01 Watch 7:36 Why growing lettuce in New York City is a growing business By PBS News Hour In cities like New York and across the river in Newark, rooftops and abandoned buildings are underutilized pieces of real estate now being turned into agricultural operations. Can these urban farms address the coming global food crisis, or are they… Continue watching
Oct 01 Making use of empty space, urban farming becomes a business By Paul Solman With the repurposing of rooftops and abandoned buildings, urban agriculture has grown to be a business in cities like New York and Chicago. Continue reading
Sep 21 Could a mushroom save the honeybee? By Ken Christensen, KCTS9/Earthfix In recent years, research has shown that rare fungi found in the old-growth forests of Western Washington can help fight viruses, including tuberculosis, smallpox and bird flu. What if the honeybee would see similar health benefits from wood-rotting mushrooms?… Continue reading
Aug 27 Watch 5:50 New generation of Rwandan entrepreneurs offer tech solutions to farmers' dilemmas By PBS News Hour Twenty years since a genocide devastated the country, Rwanda has made a remarkable recovery and a new generation sees entrepreneurship, empowered by technology, as its patriotic duty. Continue watching
Aug 22 Watch 4:12 Puerto Rico seeks to reclaim island's farming industry By PBS News Hour A growing number of farmers in Puerto Rico are trying to reclaim the island's farming industry after decades of industrialization and stigma shrunk its agriculture. Even as Puerto Rico imports 80 percent of its food supply, the culinary scene eyes… Continue watching