Wheat crops damaged by drought are seen during an annual winter wheat tour, near Colby, Kansas, U.S., May 13, 2025. Photo: Reuters/Emily Schmall

‘Amber waves of grain’ recede in America’s heartland as wheat farmers struggle

Midwestern farmers abandoning wheat crops as profits recede, weather challenges

The Great Plains have long been celebrated for the “amber waves of grain” in the popular hymn “America the Beautiful.” The region’s states produce most of the U.S.-grown crop of hard red winter wheat, favored by bakers for bread. But with prices hovering around $5 (C$6.86) per bushel, U.S. wheat farmers have reached an inflection point, with many forced to either lose money, feed wheat to cattle or kill off the crop.

U.S. farm groups call Kennedy’s ‘MAHA’ report unscientific, fear-based

U.S. farm groups call Kennedy’s ‘MAHA’ report unscientific, fear-based

The health report takes aim at crop protection products like glyphosate and ‘ultra-processed’ foods

Several U.S. agriculture groups say the federal Make America Healthy Again report, released Thursday, is fear-based and anti-science. The report takes aim at what U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy has called a crisis of increasing rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, cancer, mental health disorders and other health issues.


Photo: Getty Images

Pigs can’t fly: U.S. high-end livestock breeders lose millions in China tariff fallout

China has been a key importer of American hog and dairy cattle genetics, but shipments have stalled

China is one of the biggest importers of American breeding pigs and other livestock genetic material such as cattle semen. These lucrative niche export markets had been growing, but dried up since U.S. President Donald Trump started a trade war with Beijing.