Xcaret Nuñez
Agriculture and Rural Communities Reporter | KOSUXcaret Nuñez covers agriculture and rural communities for KOSU. Her coverage focuses on undercovered farming and rural issues that affect both rural and urban residents in the state, particularly the Latino community.
She joined KOSU in June 2022 as a corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative that places emerging journalists in newsrooms across the country.
Nuñez previously worked at KBIA, the NPR affiliate in Columbia, Missouri, as a reporter, producer and anchor where she covered both community and education beats. She was also a Missouri Statehouse reporter for the Missouri News Network, covering the 2022 legislative session. Nuñez previously interned for Here & Now, NPR/WBUR’s midday news magazine program.
A first-generation college graduate, Nuñez graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in religious studies. She is originally from Yuma, Arizona, the Southwest city known as the “Lettuce Capital of the World” and “Sunniest City on Earth.”
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a flashpoint in Congress yet again as members work to renew the farm bill. And the debate comes in the midst of rising food insecurity across the U.S. -
Ranchers across the Midwest are battling black vultures, a federally protected bird that has a reputation for killing newborn livestock. While the birds play a major ecological role, their expanding population is becoming a big nuisance for producers. -
The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave two companies the green light last month to produce and sell their cultivated chicken meat across the country. But it could still take years before people can buy the new meat at grocery stores. -
Every five years, Congress has to renew the farm bill — a gigantic piece of legislation that supports and protects food production, natural resources and provides food benefits to low-income families. -
The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed a new rule that would change the requirements of meat, poultry and egg labels that say “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” to better align with what consumers understand the claim to mean. -
The child care gap across the country is more than 30%, meaning the need for quality child care far outweighs the supply — and it's worse in rural areas. -
From deadly wildfires to choking dust storms to decimated crop harvests, this year’s drought has left its mark across the country. For the hardest hit areas, such as the Great Plains, recovering from the far-reaching impacts of this historically dry year won’t be easy. -
For many people, fall is marked by taking trips to the pumpkin patch, getting lost in a corn maze or catching a hay ride. These seasonal activities are part of agricultural tourism, and it's a booming industry.
