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.
Shannon Hall will be the last person farming in Northeast Arkansas under the Hall family name. He can trace his farming heritage back to the Revolutionary War. Credit: Brian Chilson
Earlier this month, Desk reporter Phillip Powell published an excellent piece on the cover of the Arkansas Times' monthly magazine, which explores the economic crisis row crop farmers across the Mississippi River Basin are facing. Part of this stems from the uncertainty created by Trump's ever-changing tariffs. But he also found the issue runs deeper, into an outdated farm safety net and difficult economic model that disincentivizes diversification.
Here's more from Phillip:
Desk reporter Phillip Powell (Arkansas Times)
“I kept hearing from farmers and industry groups in the Delta that row crop country was experiencing an economic crisis on a scale they haven’t seen since the notorious 1980s farm crisis. But at the same time, I also knew that commodity farms receive massive amounts of money from the federal government, and over the last few years even without President Trump’s tariffs, farmers have received huge infusions of federal cash.
I wanted to square that circle. How could it be that farmers are doing so poorly while receiving money from the government? And it turns out, that was a very hard question to answer. Even with a 5,000 word story on the topic, I think I’m just scratching the surface.
I interviewed over 12 sources – farmers, industry leaders, lobbyists, Senate candidates, and rural historians – and dove deep into United States Department of Agriculture farm census data to report the story. That led me into the complex history of how agriculture transitioned from small, sustainable operations to agribusiness in the 1970s, and how Delta communities became the hosts of ever growing commodity farms.
Over the last few decades, the fertile lands along the Mississippi River in Arkansas have shifted into massive soybean, rice, corn, and cotton operations that concentrate on exporting raw commodities to foreign markets. Their economic vitality is tied to market forces far beyond their control, and with the rise of competition in Latin America, American commodity farms are producing larger and larger yields for less revenue. And as we've seen in recent weeks, the cracks in that system are emerging."
Michael here again. Thanks to Phil for sharing this piece. Even though the Desk didn't produce this, we're glad to share the work our reporters do in their local newsrooms, which is part of our mission: putting folks in positions to generate more impactful environmental journalism for their communities.
Thanks for reading. More next week from across the Basin.
