farming

A field of unharvested wheat is seen in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England, in 2012. Wheat wasn't cultivated in Britain until some 6,000 years ago, but DNA evidence suggests early Britons were eating the grain at least 8,000 years ago.

Stone Age Britons Were Eating Wheat 2,000 Years Before They Farmed It

10:45am February 27, 2015

by Chris Joyce

Scientists have recovered cultivated wheat DNA from an 8,000-year-old submerged site off the British coast. The finding suggests hunter-gatherers were trading for the grain long before they grew it.

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Mushrooms from a farm in Chester County, Pa., dubbed the "Mushroom Capital of America."

A Wet And Wild Look Inside The 'Mushroom Houses' Of A Fungi Farm

5:29pm February 19, 2015

by Linda Poon

Foraging for wild, edible fungi may be a growing trend. But most of the mushrooms we eat come from farms — and a behind-the-scenes look at one of them turns out to be pretty exciting on its own.

A cereal rye cover crop grows (at left) in a field where corn was recently harvested. Cover crops can capture nutrients such as nitrate and prevent them from polluting nearby streams.

Here's How To End Iowa's Great Nitrate Fight

1:09pm February 02, 2015

by Dan Charles

Des Moines, Iowa, wants to control nitrate pollution — often called fertilizer runoff — in nearby rivers. But the best way to reduce it involves planting different crops, not using less fertilizer.

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The city of Des Moines, Iowa, sits on the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. The city's water works says it will sue three neighboring counties for high nitrate levels in these waterways.

Iowa's Largest City Sues Over Farm Fertilizer Runoff In Rivers

7:09pm January 26, 2015

by Dan Charles

Fertilizer runoff has provoked a confrontation between Des Moines and the farms that surround it. The city's water utility wants to sue neighboring counties for nitrates in the Raccoon River.

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Two teams face off, with moderator John Donvan, on the motion, "Genetically Modify Food."

Debate: Should We Genetically Modify Food?

12:12pm January 13, 2015

by NPR Staff

Many crops we eat today are the product of genetic modifications that happen in a lab, not in nature. Scientists and consumers are divided how cautious we need to be about these foods.

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Sister Elizabeth feeds Yoda, a water buffalo calf at the ranch. The nuns bought the buffalo to make mozzarella.

Nuns On The Ranch Give A Heavenly Twist To Beef

3:17pm January 08, 2015

by Luke Runyon

At a Colorado ranch run by Benedictine nuns, prayer and farming go hand in hand. "We have kind of a corner on the market" for grass-fed beef, says one sister. "People just kind of believe in it."

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Owner Mary Kraft at Badger Creek Dairy outside Fort Morgan, Colo.

National

Women's Work Is Never Done On The Farm, And Sometimes Never Counted

11:45am December 12, 2014

by Luke Runyon

The percentage of female farmers is climbing — slowly, according to federal figures. But those numbers don't take into account the many new roles women are filling on multigenerational family farms.

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Pinatas are among the new generation of club apples — varieties that are not just patented, but also trademarked and controlled in such a way that only a select "club" of farmers can sell them.

National

Want To Grow These Apples? You'll Have To Join The Club

8:21pm December 02, 2014

by Dan Charles

New brands are reshaping the apple aisle of supermarkets. Many are "club apples" --varieties that are controlled and managed by select groups of farmers.

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'Occupy The Farm': In Berkeley, The Revolution Will Be Irrigated

4:25pm November 09, 2014

by Allison Aubrey

A new documentary film follows protesters who occupied a research farm owned by the University of California. The film has become a symbol of the subversive possibilities of urban farming.

These pomegranates are about an inch smaller than the typical size, but they're packed with antioxidants.

Why California's Drought-Stressed Fruit May Be Better For You

1:36pm October 27, 2014

by Sasha Khokha

Is California's severe drought hurting the nutrient content of fruit? No, preliminary data on pomegranates suggest. The fruit may be smaller, but packed with more antioxidants, tests show.