Stories featured in
As Extreme Heat Blasts Farms, More Harvests Are Taking Place in the Dark
In the summer months, Flor Sanchez and the members of her harvest crew rise before dawn and arrive at a cherry orchard in Washington state’s Yakima Valley when there is only the slightest hint of daylight. “We use headlamps,” she says, to carry ladders to the trees. Climbing up into the branches to harvest the ripeREAD MORE
Farmers Are Breeding Heat-Resistant Cows
At Vaqueria El Remanso, a small dairy farm west of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the cows are different — they have a freshly shaven, suave look. Their short hair is the result of a natural mutation known as “slick,” which Rafael López-López, who runs El Remanso, has been breeding into his cows for decades. “In hot,READ MORE
Wells Are Running Dry in Rural Communities of Color. Is a Fix in Sight?
For years, Michael Prado has provided bottled water to his neighbors in Sultana, a town of about 785 people in California’s Central Valley. That’s because most wells in town have been contaminated by runoff from agriculture, said Prado, who is president of the Sultana Community Services District. Only one well meets state standards for safe drinkingREAD MORE