Author

Dave Dickey
Dickey spent nearly 30 years at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s NPR member station WILL-AM 580 where he won a dozen Associated Press awards for his reporting. For 13 years, he directed Illinois Public Media’s agriculture programming. His weekly column for Investigate Midwest covers agriculture and related issues including politics, government, environment and labor. His opinions are his own and do not reflect Investigate Midwest. Email him at [email protected]
The most impactful agricultural story of 2022
By: Dave Dickey - December 30, 2022
Whew… what a year. If you closely follow ag doings, you know there’s plenty to talk about. If not, well let me get you caught up. First, three stories that fall just a wee bit short of the most impactful agricultural story of 2022. The question of what waters the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate […]
Will FDA proposed healthy guidelines make a difference?
By: Dave Dickey - December 7, 2022
The Food and Drug Administration really wants you to believe that healthy is as healthy does. To that end, the FDA wants grocery shoppers to know with some degree of confidence that when they buy processed foods emblazoned with a “healthy” label, by golly, it’s healthy eating. Pinky swear. But as it turns out, trying to […]
Feds need to keep watchful eye on climate-smart grants
By: Dave Dickey - December 2, 2022
Climate change believers by and large say that for decades Big Agriculture has spewed huge amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. And they’re not wrong. EPA estimates that agriculture accounted for 11.2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. So it’s quite obvious that in order to combat climate change the feds […]
Big Ag has misled the public when it comes to fighting climate change
By: Dave Dickey - October 21, 2022
This commentary was originally published by Investigate Midwest. For the last several years Big Agriculture has tried, with some degree of success, to bamboozle the public into believing it’s all in when it comes to combating climate change when in fact it ain’t. It’s nothing new. Big corporations have been playing the misinformation game for […]
Foreign investors are snapping up U.S. land. But exactly how much, who knows?
By: Dave Dickey - September 27, 2022
This commentary was originally published by Investigate Midwest. Anybody who has kept an eye on agricultural doings knows that consolidation is occurring at an alarming rate. In the past couple of decades, competition between agricultural giants has become a fading memory. Even this short list is staggering: China’s WH Group purchased Smithfield Foods – the largest producer […]