Pacific Northwest Ag Network

Dry conditions continue for much of the Pacific Northwest.  But for one state, soil moisture conditions have returned close to normal.   According to the latest USDA numbers, 34% of Washington is considered abnormally dry for this time of year.  That is a dr...

Thursday, several members of the House of Representatives, including Washington’s Dan Newhouse, Illinois’ Mike Bost, North Carolina’s David Rouzer, and Iowa’s Mariannette Miller-Meeks led 192 other House Republicans in a letter blasting the Administration for its "premature and reckless WOTUS final rule".  The Members demand th...

Senate Finance Committee Chair Oregon’s Ron Wyden, and Ranking Member Idaho’s Mike Crapo, are calling for the administration to continue to press for strong enforcement of USMCA.  Thursday’s letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai says such enforcement will ensure American trading partners live up to their obligations.   Crapo and Wyden sa...

On Thursday, Democratic leadership appointed Oregon representative Andrea Salinas to the House Ag Committee.   “Oregon’s sixth district stretches across hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and produces everything from wine grapes to hazelnuts, berries to dairy products, grass seed, and countless other crops that people around the globe enjoy," noted the freshman Democrat from Tigard. 

Lawmakers in Olympia focused on the future of the Washington’s farming sector, thanks to a bill that cleared the state Senate Wednesday.  The legislation, put forward by freshman Republican senator Nikki Torres, expands the state’s farm internship program.   “This is a g...

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh announced Thursday her intention to step away from her role at USDA.   “It is with mixed emotions that today I am announcing that I will step away from my role as Deputy Secretary in the coming weeks so I can spend more time with my family,” Bronaugh said.   She not...

What international markets would the Washington Wine Commission like to see opened, or expanded.  We put that question before Katie Salisbury in today's PNW Ag Network Wine Minute.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-9791, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquareme...

The push to get a farm bill across the finish line this year could run headlong into the partisan fight over budget cuts versus raising the government’s borrowing limit.  On Thursday, new House Ag Chair, Republican Glenn Thompson stressed that lawmakers have a deadline in front of them, since the current Farm Bill expires on September 30th of this year.  While that de...

An attorney for the American Farm Bureau Federation said a lawsuit filed by the Bureau and other farm groups against the EPA’s final ‘Waters of the U.S.’ rule is needed, on top of any favorable Supreme Court ruling.  Deputy General Counsel Travis Cushman says the latest WOTUS lawsuit is needed, not just because of a possible timing gap between the Biden EPA rule effective in March and a Supreme Co

Even though U.S. production of pork, broilers and turkeys is expected to increase this year, the USDA is still reporting a decline in total meat production; and that is driven by a fairly sharp decline in beef production.  USDA Outlook Board chairman Mark Jekanowski said this could be the second year in a row of declining total U.S. meat p...

The University of Idaho is warning potato growers across the Pacific Northwest to be on the lookout for ring rot.  UI Extension Seed Potato Specialist Kasia Duellman said the tuber-born bacterial disease attacks crop yields, in both commercial and seed potatoes.   ...

The Oregon Department of Forestry was scheduled to release the next draft of the controversial Wildfire Risk Map in March, but that has been put on hold, thanks to action by state lawmakers.  Under 2021’s Senate Bill 762, ODF was charged with the creation of the map, but the first draft that was released in August proved so unpopular statewide, the Department pumped the breaks for another six mont

State lawmakers in Oregon are considering changes to rules governing home-based food businesses.  Bend State Senator Tim Knopp is chief sponsor of the bill he said opens up opportunities for more small food-based businesses.   “Baked goods, confectionary items, coffee beans, teas, popcorn, jams, jellies, honey, syrup, fruit butters, mixed nuts, freeze-dried foods, dried and dehydrated foods.”   Je

A debt crisis faceoff and a Farm Bill deadline are two linked challenges facing U.S. agriculture this year with predictions by one Washington D.C. Ag lobbyist that Congress will meet both challenges.  Randy Russell with food and ag policy Russell Group predicts there will be no avoiding open debate this year on the debt crisis now that the Treasury has run out of borrowing authority.   “... Read M

The Senate failed to act on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act last year.  We asked Mark Powers with the Northwest Horticultural Council his thoughts, and if he expects to see Ag labor/immigration reform anytime soon.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-9791, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsqu...

Combine harvester sales finished the year with healthy gains in unit sales while ag tractors finished the year below 2021 levels in both the U.S. and Canada.  Curt Blades, AEM senior vice president, industry sectors and product leadership, said the decline largely reflects the robust sales in 2020 and 2021.  ...

U.S. farm cash receipts from animals and animal products totaled $195.8 billion in 2021, led by receipts for cattle and calves at $72.9 billion, or 37%.  USDA’s Economic Research Service reports that poultry and egg products made up the next largest share of 2021 cash receipts at $46.1 billion, or 2...

America’s dairy producers and processors are closely watching discussions about the next Farm Bill and looking for reforms to Federal Milk Marketing Orders.  CoBank said the industry feels that current FMMOs don’t reflect today’s market environment, and the consequences could be drastic.   Make allowances ar...

A U.S. farm group is asking the Federal Trade Commission to look into the high prices of eggs and possible price gouging.  Farm Action is a farmer-led advocacy organization that sent a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan to share their concerns over “apparent price gouging.”  They point o...

It was January 15th, 2020 when the U.S. and China signed the Phase One Trade agreement, which the Trump Administration said tore down major market barriers for American food and Ag exports.  The long-term hope was China would committee to buying even larger amounts of U.S. produc...

Ask anyone in the tree fruit, berry or vegetable industries, they’ll tell you all about the high labor costs associated with their labor-intensive commodities.  A recent USDA study looked at those costs and what can be done to help producers with their bottom line.   “There...