MELINA WALLING

Agriculture and climate change reporter

Walling covers the intersections of climate change and agriculture in the Midwest and beyond for The Associated Press. She is based in Chicago.

Summer camps are for getting kids outdoors, but more frequent heat waves force changes

As the first heat wave of the season ripples across the U.S., summer camps are working to keep their children cool while still letting the kids enjoy being outside with nature.

Make mine medium-rare: Men really do eat more meat than women, study says

It’s a popular notion that men eat more meat than women. Now, new research says it’s true around the world.

YouTuber charged for having a helicopter blast a Lamborghini with fireworks, authorities say

A YouTuber is facing federal charges after authorities say he directed a video in which a helicopter blasted fireworks at a speeding Lamborghini from above.

Tornado hits Michigan, killing toddler, while Ohio and Maryland storms injure at least 13

Tornado-spawning storms tearing across the eastern U.S. overnight killed a toddler in Michigan and injured five people in Maryland and eight more in Ohio.

They’re big. They’re colorful. But Joro spiders aren’t nightmare fodder

Joro spiders — invasive, brightly colored, orb-weaving arachnids that have been spreading in the U.S. for the past several years — have captured the public’s interest and horror once again.

California firefighters make significant progress against wildfire east of San Francisco Bay

California’s largest wildfire so far this year has been significantly surrounded after blackening a swath of hilly grasslands between San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley.

Researchers find a tiny organism has the power to reduce a persistent greenhouse gas in farm fields

Thanks to heavy use of nitrogen fertilizer, tiny organisms that flourish in farm fields emit nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas that can warm the planet more than carbon dioxide and stay in the atmosphere for over a century.

Community colleges offer clean energy training as climate-related jobs expand across America

As students across the nation consider jobs that play a role in solving the climate crisis, they’re looking for meaningful climate training.

With organic fields next door, conventional farms dial up the pesticide use, study finds

Champions of organic farming have long portrayed it as friendlier to humans and the earth. But a new study in a California county found a surprising effect as their acreage grew — their conventional neighbors were using more pesticides than before.

US farms are increasingly reliant on contract workers who are acutely exposed to climate extremes

The latest U.S. agricultural census data, out last month with the latest five-year update of data from 2022, shows an increase in the proportion of farms utilizing contract labor compared to those hiring labor overall.

At Northwestern, students watch climate change through maple trees

For several years now, students have been tracking sap production of maple trees in a class on maple syrup and climate change, taught by Northwestern instructor Eli Suzukovich III.

Maple syrup season came weeks early in the Midwest. Producers are doing their best to adapt

This year’s warmer winter temperatures have allowed some maple syrup producers across the U.S. to begin tapping their trees as much as two months early.

Dandelions and shrubs to replace rubber, new grains and more: Are alternative crops realistic?

Many companies, philanthropic organizations and national and international entities tout the promise of alternative crops to fight climate change.

Two years after deadly tornadoes, some Mayfield families are still waiting for housing

Two years after the tornado outbreak that killed dozens and leveled much of the real estate in this western Kentucky town, many people are still living through another, slower disaster -- the search for housing.

Latest EPA assessment shows almost no improvement in river and stream nitrogen pollution

The EPA’s newest assessment of water quality and nutrient pollution in U.S. rivers and streams shows almost no progress on cutting the nitrogen pollution that comes primarily from farm chemical runoff.

As climate warms, that perfect Christmas tree may depend on growers’ ability to adapt

For decades, Christmas tree growers and breeders have been preparing for a future of hotter weather and warming soil.

Cows in Rotterdam harbor, seedlings on rafts in India; are floating farms the future?

Visitors walking along the river that flows through downtown Rotterdam might be surprised to see a three-tiered structure moored in the water, with a top level occupied by brown and white cows grazing on hay dropped from a conveyor belt.

Agriculture gets its day at COP28, but experts see big barriers to cutting emissions

This year’s global climate summit in Dubai set aside Sunday to spotlight food and agriculture, a sector that accounts for about a third of the world’s emission.

U.S. and UAE-backed initiative announces $9 billion more for agricultural innovation projects

A joint initiative from the United States and United Arab Emirates is announcing an additional $9 billion of funding to tackle agriculture’s role in the climate crisis.

Extreme weather can hit farmers hard. Those with smaller farming operations often pay the price

Following historic rainfall and flooding earlier this summer, farmers in Graves County, Kentucky sustained field damage and crop loss.

How researchers, farmers and brewers want to safeguard beer against climate change

In the face of human-caused climate change impacting water access and weather patterns in the Willamette Valley — a region known for hops growing — farmers are using all the new strategies they can get to stay afloat and provide for large and small breweries alike.

Red hot October almost guarantees 2023 will be the hottest year on record

October was the fifth straight month that Earth set a record for the hottest month in recorded history.

‘My heart was always just with the sheep.’ One Navajo’s push to keep tradition vibrant

Growing up in Ganado, a small town in Navajo Nation in eastern Arizona, Nikyle Begay always wanted to visit their grandmother’s sheep.

Americans are still putting way too much food into landfills. Local officials seek EPA’s help

A pair of recent reports from the Environmental Protection Agency put striking numbers on America’s problem with food waste.

Navajo sheep herding at risk from climate change. Some young people push to maintain the tradition

Raising sheep is a way of life for many people in Navajo Nation, but a host of factors threaten that livelihood.

How extreme weather in the US may have affected the pumpkins you picked this year for Halloween

Some pumpkin farmers in the West, particularly wholesalers in places like Colorado and New Mexico, are feeling the pinching effects of drought.

Birds nesting in agricultural lands more vulnerable to extreme heat, study finds

Birds nesting in agricultural settings were significantly less likely to successfully raise their young during extreme heat events than birds nesting in forests under the same weather conditions, a new study finds.

Lots of indoor farms are shutting down as their businesses struggle. So why are more being built?

Across the country, more indoor farms are launching or expanding even as others founder. This summer marked the groundbreaking of a huge vertical farming operation in Virginia by the California-based company Plenty Unlimited.

Climate change may force more farmers and ranchers to consider irrigation — at a steep cost

As brutal heat stretches across much of the United States, some farmers may be watching their crops grow parched.

Even frozen Antarctica is being walloped by climate extremes, scientists find

A new study concludes that Antarctica is already being and will continue to be affected by more frequent and severe extreme weather events, a known byproduct of human-caused climate change.