News from rural America.

Solar-powered tech takes on toxic algal blooms, The Farm Bill has expired leaving SNAP benefits uncertain, higher prices are a key election concern, and a two-ton pumpkin is smashing records and winning championships.

TRANSCRIPT

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, this is the news from rural America.

Rural Illinois is using solar-powered ultrasound to kill toxic algal blooms.

The water treatment plant in Mattoon, Illinois, uses solar rafts, small vessels topped with solar panels, on its reservoir, Lake Paradise.

The devices use ultrasonic waves to kill cyanobacteria and reduce toxin levels in the water.

Tennessee-based Hydro Bioscience makes the rafts.

Todd Austin manages customer accounts and makes sure the rafts work properly.

That's part of the fun of this job is going to visit each customer, seeing their environment, and I can understand what they're up against.

Austin says solar rafts reduce chemical use by about 50 to 60 percent, which lowers the cost of keeping drinking water sources clean.

People are looking for a chemical-free alternative.

For years, people threw copper sulfate in there.

Now we're looking at more natural ways to do this.

The Farm Bill has officially expired.

The federal legislation governs land use, allocates resources for farmers, and sets funding for federal nutrition programs like SNAP.

Gina Plattonino with the Food Research and Action Network says the future of SNAP is now uncertain.

Last year's federal budget reconciliation law created a cost share, where states would pay benefits based on their payment error rates instead of the federal government.

Some states will pull out or may not stay in the program because of this cost share, which in some states could go anywhere from millions to billions.

So we are facing an existential crisis.

She adds limiting SNAP access will harm programs connecting low-income households to neighboring small farms that boost local food systems.

Sticker shock appears to be on the ballot this November.

YouGov polling shows that inflation is voters' top concern, almost four times higher than health care.

Frank Manzo with the Midwest Economic Policy Institute says people feel the pressure, with Midwest gas prices above $4 a gallon and diesel everywhere above $6 a gallon.

On top of that, then you, of course, have high mortgage rates.

And so you're hearing that people are struggling to afford, you know, the basic essentials, and they're not very happy about it.

The war with Iran and aggressive tariffs are closely tied to recent price increases.

While it's a campaign issue this fall, Manzo believes these consumer worries will endure. whether it's a prolonged war or the impacts of AI that may potentially displacing workers.

So there's definitely concern about what the economy is and what it looks like going forward.

It's pumpkin season, and the National Pumpkin Weigh Off crowns the biggest of them all.

This year's winner is a Whopper weighing more than 2,600 pounds, grown by Jim Sherwood of Melino, Oregon.

The supersized squash, nicknamed SpongeBob, set a new Oregon record, though the 2023 winner still holds the national record at more than 2,700 pounds.

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, I'm Laura Hatch.

For more rural stories, visit dailyyonder.com.