A support group and a lab in the St. Louis area provide resources for people with the allergy to mammal products — and evidence that its effects can be reversed.
Ag & Water Desk reporter Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco of WNIJ, left, and senior advisor Erin Jordan of The Gazette, right, conduct an interview in Iowa for a recent story on tax credits for carbon capture projects. Credit: Nick Rohlman, The Gazette
The Ag & Water Desk launched one year ago this month, and what a year it’s been. Our 10 reporters from the headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico set out to cover important agriculture and environment stories in the basin. Since then we’ve produced hundreds of stories that have been published in scores of local, state and national news outlets.
We started with an idea of the need for this coverage and how we would meet it, but we have learned a lot along the way. Our 10 core news partners have been the foundation for our success, as well as our incredibly talented journalists. We’ve adapted to provide services we didn’t expect, spurring new local collaborations and producing daily news stories that have been among our most popular.
We have big plans for the future! First up, a series on climate change impacts in the Mississippi River Basin. Then we’re going to dig into the lack of progress at reducing runoff into the Mississippi. We hope to recruit more news outlets to join us — if you know any that might want to run our stories, they can sign up here — and we want to do more public engagement, soliciting questions and feedback from our audiences.
It’s an unprecedented time for our beat: The Farm Bill is up for renewal and a presidential election is on the horizon, all while Earth experiences its hottest summer in thousands of years. Farmers are trying to adapt, leaders are looking for answers, and people just want to know what the heck is going on with the weather.
We’re here for you! Send your questions and comments to info@agwaterdesk.org. Thanks for being with us through year one, and we can’t wait to share all that’s next.
Yours,
Sara Shipley Hiles, executive director Tegan Wendland, editorial director Annie Ropeik, assistant director
Our first year by the numbers
700 total stories produced by all our reporters, shared with our network by other journalists in our partner newsrooms and authored by students
75 collaborative, enterprise or breaking news pieces edited and shared by the Desk
65 newsrooms in our distribution network
600+ times our stories ran in news outlets around the country
30+ national media appearances and story pickups
2 in-person team trainings — at Mizzou in October 2022 and the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference in Boise, ID in April 2023
➤ “It was amazing to collaborate with talented journalists to create a comprehensive look at increased rainfall across the entire Mississippi River basin. I'm proud of our final product, which incorporated perspectives from across the region and focused on wide-ranging impacts.” — Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette
A search and rescue team wades through debris in a creek in Eastern Kentucky, looking for flood victims, on July 31, 2022. Credit: Jeff Faughender, Louisville Courier JournalHaze from Canadian wildfires obscures the skyline and creates poor air quality in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on June 27, 2023. Credit: Nick Rohlman, The Gazette
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Chloe Johnson, Star Tribune — June 30, 2023
➤ “I was really impressed by this story. As drought and wildfire smoke made headlines, they did a good job of stepping back and telling the story of how the region we cover is shifting as a whole.” — Connor Giffin, Louisville Courier Journal
By Brittney J. Miller, The Gazette — May 21, 2023 (Leer en español)
➤ “This stood out as a well-researched story that kept the farmers at the center of it all and focused on solutions.” — Keely Brewer, Daily Memphian
Max Chavez, a farmer and immigrant from Mexico, surveys his farmland as he decides where to plant on April 25, 2023, in Carlisle, Iowa. Credit: Geoff Stellfox, The GazetteJacob Weingardt delivers feed to cattle at Amana Society Farms in Amana, Iowa. Credit: Jim Slosiarek, The Gazette
By Erin Jordan, The Gazette / Desk senior advisor, and Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest — Feb. 16, 2023
➤ “This story resulted from a data training at the Desk’s fall conference. Collaborating with Mónica was a great opportunity to share our strengths and do a national story based in Iowa.” — Erin
By Madeline Heim & Brittney J. Miller — April 30, 2023
➤ “It felt great to be able to flex the muscles of the Desk on this story, pulling so many details and personal stories together from across a wide region on a breaking news event.” — Madeline
Rising Mississippi River waters approach a sand barrier at the marina in Camanche, Iowa on April 26, 2023, during near-record flooding. Credit: Nick Rohlman, The Gazette
Sara’s highlights:
➤ Times we changed the conversation, like our widely published rights of nature story | By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WNIJ — May 31, 2023
➤ Our student journalists’ big fertilizer investigation (June 2023) — we’re proud to be helping to train the next generation of environmental reporters.
The American Queen docks in Tunica, Mississippi, May 28, 2023, for a final stop before docking in Memphis on Memorial Day. Credit: Keely Brewer, Daily Memphian
New series onriver cruises | By Keely Brewer — July 11, 2023
Keely took a riverboat ride over Memorial Day weekend to explore how this rejuvenated river industry is changing.
Mayflies dot a building in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in July 2022. Courtesy: Dan Baumgardt, National Weather ServiceAn aerial view of Prairie du Chien, a small river town in southern Wisconsin. Credit: Drake White-Bergey, Wisconsin Watch / Aerial support provided by LightHawk
Introducing our newest Report for America corps member, Delaney Dryfoos!
Dryfoos will report for the Ag & Water Desk from The Lens in New Orleans. Previously, she reported on climate change resiliency in New York City for Inside Climate News. She holds a master’s degree in science, health and environmental journalism from New York University and studied biology, global health, policy journalism and media studies at Duke University. Email her at ddryfoos@thelensnola.org or follow her on Twitter.
