The Ag & Water Desk, Wrapped

As 2024 draws to a close, we at the Ag & Water Desk are taking a few moments to celebrate wins and look ahead to exciting projects in the new year. This week, I'm excited to share some of those with you.

This was the biggest year yet for the Desk. Our reporters in newsrooms across the Basin have published more than 1,619 stories since we started editorial operations in 2022. That includes pieces from KMOV St. Louis exploring lost islands in the Mississippi, the Minneapolis Star Tribune highlighting the dangers of forever chemicals, and Investigate Midwest exposing labor law violations.

We've created 153+ pieces of collaborative reporting since the start of this project – journalism that crosses state and ideological lines to reach communities not traditionally served by local news. That includes KBIA's Harshawn Ratanpal on how federal drought policies harm farmers, Illan Ireland at the the Mississippi Free Press on a long-awaited return of oyster season in parts of Mississippi's coast, and Grace Fiori at Buffalo's Fire on tribes in the Dakotas exploring solar energy.

That's not to mention that in June, we published our extensive collaborative series on agricultural runoff impacts to the Gulf, Farm to Trouble.

We've also had our reporting republished by national outlets more than 60 times to date, reaching new audiences outside the Basin to educate people on why the nation's largest watershed matters. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Madeline Heim's piece on aging dams was featured in Undark. Delaney Dryfoos of the Lens and Eric Schmid of St Louis Public Radio's piece on a new disaster insurance model made it into Grist, and Eric's piece on kernza beer was on Science Friday!

With 14 stories receiving 10+ pickups each through our distribution network (ahem: sign up here), our work is getting more traction in the world.

We welcomed our second cohort of reporters over the summer, including the first group of TV stations. We continue to expand our reach on new platforms, including social media (hint: check out our Instagram!).

And of course, some of the excellent reporters from our first cohort have stuck around and are producing fantastic work, like Bennet Goldstein's piece on "poopspotting" from satellites for Wisconsin Watch.

As we look ahead to 2025, we've got a lot of exciting things planned, from a reporting project already underway to our next in-person gathering at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Phoenix. But right now, we want to thank you for following the Desk and taking this journey with us. It's so meaningful to see a journalism project succeed and grow in the current industry climate, and we appreciate every bit of help and support.

Finally, one last ask for the year. We are SO close to meeting our fundraising goal, but aren't there yet. If you like the work we're doing, can you send us $10 today? We need just five more new donors by the end of the year, and we'll start 2025 strong with a $1,000 bonus from NewsMatch.

We appreciate you, and happy New Year from all of us at the Desk!

Yes, I'll support the Desk!

Sincerely,

Michael Crowe
Contributing Editor,
Ag & Water Desk