Amy Mayer
Amy Mayer is a reporter based in Ames. She covers agriculture and is part of the Harvest Public Media collaboration. Amy worked as an independent producer for many years and also previously had stints as weekend news host and reporter at WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts and as a reporter and host/producer of a weekly call-in health show at KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska. Amy’s work has earned awards from SPJ, the Alaska Press Club and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island AP. Her stories have aired on NPR news programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition and on Only A Game, Marketplace and Living on Earth. She produced the 2011 documentary Peace Corps Voices, which aired in over 160 communities across the country and has written for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Real Simple and other print outlets. Amy served on the board of directors of the Association of Independents in Radio from 2008-2015.
Amy has a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from Wellesley College and a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
Amy’s favorite public radio program is The World.
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The Biden administration hopes changes to farming can help achieve its climate agenda. The Department of Agriculture has an additional goal: improving service to Black and other underserved farmers. -
The parade of storms that have pummeled California this winter caused hundreds of rockslides around the state. Now, geologists are out assessing new risks and shoring up protections.
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The meatpacking industry has slowed down due to the coronavirus outbreaks at the plants. Meatpackers warn that it could lead to meat shortages and stores limiting purchases.
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Winters are warming faster than summers in many places, and colder parts of the U.S. are warming faster than hotter ones. The warming winter climate has year-round consequences across the country. -
American farmers rely heavily on selling their goods overseas. As the trade war heats up again, many Midwest soybean farmers have huge surpluses and are receiving government aid. -
President Trump's nominee for chief scientist at the Department of Agriculture is drawing scrutiny and skepticism in part because the nominee doesn't have a scientific background.
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Sam Clovis has a doctorate in public administration, is skeptical that humans have a role in climate change and pushed theories suggesting former President Barack Obama was born in Kenya. -
If confirmed, agriculture secretary nominee Sonny Perdue confronts an industry in search of stability. In the Corn Belt, farmers wonder about the government programs they rely on. -
Several factors — from a virus sweeping through hog barns to a drought in the Plains states — have driven up the price of pork and beef. But consumers keep buying it. -
This summer's dry weather gave a great real-world test for drought-resistant corn, which seed companies are eager to promote. But many farmers worry that these drought-resistant seeds won't perform as well in regular or wet years.
