Nebraska

Journalist Ted Genoways spent a year on a small farm in rural Nebraska, and he says American nostalgia for the family farm overlooks the pressures farmers face and the realities of food production.

Fixing a modern tractor takes more than the right parts, but also the right software. Farmers are lobbying for the ability to buy that software, and some are hacking their way around the problem.

The University of Nebraska is developing a fire-starting drone, adapting a flaming ping pong ball technique already used in wildfire management. They hope to help teams conduct safer prescribed burns.