Farms outside Baghdad as seen from a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter. Much of Iraq's soil has a high salt content because of flooding and poor drainage. Jim Gordon/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Flickr hide caption

The Illinois State Corn Husking Competition is one of nine competitions happening during harvest season all across the Midwest. Abby Wendle /NPR hide caption

Paul Herringshaw says farmers like him have been taking steps to reduce crop runoff for years. Sarah Jane Tribble/WCPN hide caption

Jeff Jones and his daughters feed grain to their foraging cattle once a day in Callaway County, Mo. They're concerned about the health and environmental effects a potential hog farm next door might have. Kristofor Husted/KBIA hide caption

Sam Van Aken's grafted fruit trees are still quite young, but this artist rendering shows what he expects the "Tree of 40 Fruit" to look like in springtime in a few years. Courtesy of Sam Van Aken hide caption

More than 170 volunteers in the Brattleboro, Vt., area have contributed urine to the Rich Earth Institute field trials. Mike Earley/Courtesy of Rich Earth Institute hide caption

The U.S. Geological Survey found that neonicotinoids are leaching into streams and rivers in the Midwest, including the Missouri River, shown here in Leavenworth, Kan. Dean Bergmann/iStockphoto hide caption

Throwing out a pound of boneless beef effectively wastes 24 times more calories than throwing out a pound of vegetables or grains. Egg and dairy products fall somewhere between the two extremes. Morgan Walker/NPR hide caption

The decline of honeybees has been attributed to a variety of causes, from nasty parasites to the stress of being transported from state to state to feed on various crops in need of pollination. iStockphoto hide caption

Preparing traditional matoke, or plantains, like these in Uganda may one day involve bananas genetically engineered to be high in vitamin A. Paintarainbow/Flickr hide caption

Trays of albion strawberries are on display at the Bob Jones Ranch fruit stand on Aug. 25, 2012 in Oxnard, Calif. Ralph Lauer/ZUMA Press/Corbis hide caption

A flat of Albion strawberries at the Bob Jones Ranch fruit stand near Oxnard, Calif. Zumapress/Corbis hide caption

When families give up farming and move away, it drains life out of small communities. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption

David Ng (right) and Amanda Furrow, Customs and Border Protection agricultural specialists, inspect wheat for insects and alien seeds at a port in Baltimore, Md. Dan Charles/NPR hide caption

Migrant workers harvest corn on Uesugi Farms in Gilroy, Calif., in 2013. Courtesy of USDA hide caption