Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk

09/10/2025

Since 2022, reporters with the Ag & Water Desk have produced more than 2,200 local stories and 190 collaborative pieces across the Mississippi River Basin. With reporters stationed at 15 news outlets and counting, our team is providing fact-based environmental reporting to communities that might otherwise go without.

We’re proud to cover agriculture, water and climate at the regional and local level, where trust in news remains strongest. Thank you for supporting this work.

Read more in this week’s newsletter.

We share some of our story...

09/05/2025

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities. Rebuilding has been challenging: infrastructure still needs investment, some resiliency projects have been canceled, and many who fled have never returned home.

But the love for New Orleans endures. WWNO asked listeners to write “love letters” to the city, sharing their reflections on its culture, music, food, and spirit.

These memories are both a tribute and a reminder of what was lost.
Read reflections, reporting by Ag & Water Desk journalists, and love letters marking Katrina’s 20th anniversary in our latest newsletter.

Impacts from the storm...

09/04/2025

We’re proud to share that the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk has won LION Publishers’ 2025 Collaboration of the Year Award.

This award celebrates successful partnerships that strengthen local news by expanding journalistic impact, improving financial health, and building operational resilience.

Bringing reporters from across the Mississippi River Basin together and supporting their local newsrooms is proof of what collaboration can achieve. Together, we’ve made complex issues like agriculture, climate, and water more accessible to readers and our stories more impactful for communities across the region.

Thank you to our newsroom partners, funders, and collaborators for helping us make this possible and to LION Publishers for recognizing this work.
http://bit.ly/41ApERD

08/26/2025

We’re thrilled to share that eight undergraduate journalists from the Missouri School of Journalism are finalists for a national award for their Columbia Missourian investigation, Waste Land.

Spurred by community complaints in southwest Missouri, the students uncovered how waste from meatpacking plants and sewage sludge was being spread on farmland with few regulations, sometimes threatening trout streams and rural communities. Their reporting led to new state rules and shined a light on a national issue.

This recognition honors the strength of student journalism to hold institutions accountable and protect communities. Congratulations to the team on this well-deserved distinction!

Read More

08/25/2025

During the annual hypoxia “cruise”, researchers weather five-foot waves, long hours, heat and seasickness — all to gather data on the Gulf of Mexico’s seasonal “dead zone.”

For 40 years, the trip has provided critical information used by state and federal leaders to track nutrient pollution.. But now, with rising costs and shrinking federal budgets, its future is uncertain.

Read the full story here from Elise Plunk of Louisiana Illuminator.

Now, after its 40th year and 38th hypoxia cruise, The Pelican’s annually planned journey faces challenges to stay afloat, potentially undermining decades of research and future plans to get the dead zone under control.

08/22/2025

In this week’s Ag & Water Desk newsletter, our team shares some of the books, documentaries, and stories that have been inspiring us; from Yuri Herrera’s evocative “Season of the Swamp,” to Pulitzer-winning historical fiction.

Check out the full roundup here:

A summer roundup of media...

08/15/2025

Invasive carp in the Mississippi River Basin can outcompete native fish, threatening endangered species and the Great Lakes.

Arkansas has a plan to fight back: build a market for the fish.

With federal funding and a pilot grant program, the state aims to remove 1.6 million pounds of carp from its waters, create processing infrastructure and convincing Americans that this fish is worth eating.

Read more in Reasons to be Cheerful's Waterline series, in a story by Desk reporters Phillip Powell and Lucas Dufalla.

As the Natural State works to keep the carp out of the Great Lakes at all costs, can it convince consumers that these fish are delicious?

08/12/2025

Honored to be recognized in Report for America's 2025 Impact Report for our collaborative series on America’s disappearing wetlands, “Down the Drain.”

Beyond projects like this, Ag & Water Desk reporters have published thousands of stories on environmental issues, appearing in outlets from small-town papers to national platforms.

“Our job is to turn those deserts into oases where fact-based, locally informed coverage of the environment is readily available,” our Executive Director Sara Shipley Hiles said.

We're proud to be in such good company with other RFA newsrooms doing critical local journalism.

Read the full report:

Welcome to Issuu’s blog: home to product news, tips, resources, interviews (and more) related to content marketing and publishing.

08/11/2025

Iowa has some of the most severe nitrate pollution in the country and experts say it’s harming public health.

Recent nitrate spikes in major rivers have exceeded federal safety thresholds for drinking water, requiring costly treatment. Advocates point to agricultural runoff as the primary cause and are calling for urgent conservation measures.

Some scientists warn Iowa is in “ecological hospice,” while others say solutions are within reach if implemented statewide.

Read more from Olivia Cohen at The Gazette

The water quality forum – which was hosted by the national nonprofit Food & Water Watch – comes on the heels of a spike in nitrate levels in Iowa's waterways

08/07/2025

Join a reporting collaborative making waves in environmental journalism.

The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Des is hiring two key full-time editorial roles: Editorial Director and Assistant Editorial Director.

These are opportunities to shape award-winning coverage on climate, water, agriculture, and more while working with reporters across 15+ newsrooms in the heart of America’s largest watershed.

We’re looking for collaborative, mission-driven editors who are ready to lead and grow in a dynamic, and supportive environment.

Learn more here:

Current Opportunities at the Ag & Water Desk The Missouri School of Journalism hosts the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an innovative, award-winning environmental reporting network covering agriculture, water, climate and other environmental issues across America’s largest watershed. ...

08/06/2025

When an environmental story sparks conversation, it stands out.

In this week’s newsletter, Desk reporter Elise Plunk of the Louisiana Illuminator shares how her reporting on off-bottom oyster farming opened up discussion with Gulf Coast harvesters, state policymakers and curious readers alike.

Her well-researched piece dives into why these “bougie oysters” are more than just a trend, they represent a possible climate adaptation strategy in the Gulf.

“The platform we have as journalists is powerful, but I see these stories more as conversations: opportunities to spark and continue a dialogue with the people who read our work,” she says.

Read the story and reflections here:

Reporter Elise Plunk shares...

08/01/2025

The toxic plant that killed Socrates is spreading in the Midwest.

Poison hemlock, an invasive species with tall stems and white clustered flowers, is becoming more common due to changing land use, extreme weather events like the 2020 derecho, and unintentional seed spread by animals, equipment, and even hikers.

Experts warn it’s highly toxic to both humans and livestock.

Read more from Desk reporter Olivia Cohen at The Gazette

The reason poison hemlock is becoming more prevalent in Eastern Iowa may be the result of a number of factors, but experts say tree loss as a result of the 2020 derecho likely contributed.