Articles by Amy Mayer

The Agriculture Department, along with major agribusiness firms and foundations, are joining with U.S. cotton growers in a series of efforts aimed at filling a growing global demand for textiles that can be produced with a much smaller environmental footprint.

While the Inflation Reduction Act increases funding for existing agricultural conservation projects, its investment in renewable energy has the potential to also help expand indoor agriculture.

The idea of requiring nutrition labels on the front of food packages to disclose sugar and fat content is getting increased attention ahead of the first White House conference in more than half a century on hunger and nutrition policy.

Comments submitted to USDA revealed sharp divisions over the department's proposed rule aimed at improving transparency in poultry contracts and the tournament payment system used in the industry.

Rural electric cooperatives are among the big winners from the Democratic climate funding package headed toward final approval in Congress.

Recognizing the challenge of climate change on coffee production, and the high carbon footprint of the daily habit, food tech start-ups have hit the lab to produce something that will provide the same sensation — and kick — with less environmental impact.

USDA Rural Development has announced the fourth round of its ReConnect program, which will offer more than $1 billion to expand broadband in rural America and begin taking applications in September.

Federal programs intended to help farms and other rural businesses can have intimidating application processes or payment structures that render them inaccessible to some of their target recipients. Testimony in front of some congressional committees is raising these concerns while a series of webinars aims to help farmers and food entrepreneurs navigate the process.

Increasing food production without using additional water and land resources could be possible through further developments in irrigation and water engineer, plant breeding and gene editing, and innovative management of things like heat and sunlight.

Improving plants’ efficiency at using solar energy could offer a path toward increasing the amount of food produced per indoor acre. That’s what researchers have found, though the process shakes up the biology normally associated with plant growth.