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.
Good morning from rural western Wisconsin! I’m Tegan Wendland, the editorial director at the Ag & Water Desk. I’ve been working from my hometown area here all summer. One afternoon I walked out to get the mail at my family’s farm. I pulled out that week’s edition of The Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout, a small, independent newspaper with a very rural audience. On the front page, above the fold, was a story by Desk reporter Eva Tesfaye! I teared up.
Let me tell you why. You probably know rural newspapers are struggling – and they're not the only ones. With the Ag & Water Desk, we aim to offer these local newsrooms a resource: a high-quality supply of deeply reported environmental journalism that they can republish for free.
Since launching in June, the Desk has produced nearly 100 stories about agriculture and water issues in the Mississippi River basin. They’ve been published in big outlets such as The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Minneapolis Star Tribune. But seeing Eva’s story in my hometown paper, in a region where farmers and residents are hungry for information about climate change, agriculture, flooding and the environment – that was the moment I felt we were pulling this thing off.
Read on for Eva’s story about jumping worms and more of the awesome journalism we’re giving away for free from the headwaters to the delta. We’ll send you a newsletter like this every two weeks. If you like it, forward it to a friend! They can subscribe here. Thanks for supporting the Ag & Water Desk.
–Tegan
Featured Stories
Federal funding plan for Mississippi River mirrors Great Lakes Initiative Basin communities like Bay City, Wisconsin are feeling the effects of environmental degradation. Advocates hope a proposed federal funding program, based on a successful initiative in the Great Lakes, could help. Read the story by Desk reporters Madeline Heim and Caitlin Looby of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or check it out in Wisconsin Watch or WWNO.
Farmers diversify as climate change moves the Corn Belt north This story by Mizzou grad student and Desk assistant Adam Goldstein ran in The Columbia Missourian and Investigate Midwest.
How one polluted Minnesota river clouds the Mississippi The Desk shared this story about the Crow River by Jennifer Bjorhus of The Minneapolis Star Tribune. You can also read it in The Lens.
Year-round crops could lower runoff Desk reporter Chloe Johnson of Star Tribune looks at the promise of new kinds of perennial and winter crops. This story also ran in Wisconsin Watch.
The Desk wants to hear from you!
We're working on a series about how climate change is increasing intense rainfall in the Mississippi River basin. What changes are you seeing? What questions do you have about rain? Let us know by taking a quick survey.
You can also reply directly to this email or text “MissRiver” to 73224 to reach our newsrooms with feedback, questions, story ideas and more. Thank you!
Breaking News Coverage
How climate change fueled devastating floods in Kentucky Read stories from the Desk's Connor Giffin in Courier-Journal and USA TODAY. In partnership with AP's StoryShare platform, the Desk also distributed Connor's reporting to several rural Appalachian newspapers.
Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" Desk reporter Josh Rosenberg of The Lens covered the annual update on the size of the hypoxic area where the Mississippi meets the sea.
Inflation Reduction Act analysis Chris Clayton, one of the Desk's expert journalist advisors, reports for DTN/Progressive Farmer. Pictured: editor Tegan's family cows.
Join our distribution network!
Do you know a news outlet that might want to run our stories? Tell them to fill out this form to get access to story elements and notifications about our latest pieces. Any newsroom can repurpose, retool and republish our work for free, in perpetuity. We already have around 30 newsrooms in our network, and we're excited to add many more. Questions? Email info@agwaterdesk.org. Thanks!
Photos by Star Tribune, The Columbia Missourian, University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, Courier-Journal, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration & Wisconsin Watch.
