Pesticide pollution is a problem especially in the middle of the country. And sometimes there's enough of it to possibly hurt aquatic plants and animals.

For 150 years, silos have been a fixture of the Corn Belt, but efforts to preserve them have been haphazard.

The majority of tornadoes this year have blasted through states in the Midwest and Southeast, including Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Iowa. Tornado activity has been increasing east of the Great Plains in recent decades.

A preliminary court order reinstated federal grants largely helping Black, Indigenous, veteran and immigrant farmers access land, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut earlier this year. Now, organizations are cautiously moving forward with their projects.