There are over 20,000 medium and large-sized concentrated animal feeding operations in the U.S. One family farm in Iowa recently transitioned their industrial hog operation to grow something else: specialty mushrooms.

Giant miscanthus is a perennial grass that can be used for energy, building materials and animal bedding. Researchers say it can be planted alongside corn and soybeans and harvested in the winter, offering farmers a way to diversify their income.

Food and farm programs historically persist through the farm bill. Packaging multiple cross-party issues into one bill ensures rural and urban legislators come together to pass it. But that coalition has been fracturing over past farm bill cycles, creating uncertainty on the farm and in grocery stores.

A corn infection that farmers dread is also a culinary delicacy in Mexico. Now, farmers, chefs and a secretive vegetable broker are bringing it to one Midwest city.