Pacific Northwest Ag Network

The Bureau of Reclamation is out with its final Yakima Basin water supply forecast of the season.  The October forecast indicates the senior water rights will receive 100% of their full entitlements, but junior water rights will receive 0% of their entitlements, which means no additional water.  Any use...

According to NASS, the amount of wheat held in storage increased across the three Northwest states this year.   In Oregon, wheat stored in all positions totaled 49 million bushels, up from 38.3 million bushels a year ago. Off-farm stocks were up 26%, while on-farm stocks were up 35% compared to the previous year.  ...

If it feels like you see more blue-corduroy jackets around these days, you’re right.  The National FFA Organization recently announced that it has set a record with over one million members; 1,027,273 an 8.6% year-over-year increase.  Kristy Meyer ...

Washington State University's Michelle Moyer was recently honored, nationally, for her work with grapes and wine.   If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com 

This is the first week of October, which means we’re well into fall panting for winter wheat across the country.   “As we start October, 44% of the winter wheat production area in the United States is in drought," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.  "That's actual...

U.S. dock workers and port operators reported Thursday that they had reached a tentative deal, immediately ending the crippling three-day strike that shut down shipping on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.  American Farm Bureau Economist Danny Munch said while the strike was only three-days in length, the impact on trade has already been felt. He said ...

Partisan gridlock and fallout from the November election could again force Congress to kick key decisions for agriculture into 2025.  It’s not just the Farm Bill, but USDA and other spending bills stuck in months of political gridlock in a narrowly divided Congress that could still be stuck even in a post-election lame duck session.  A $26 billion...

Firefighters continue to battle more than a dozen large fires across Oregon, as this extended fire season continues.  And it should come as no surprise, much of that fire activity is primarily east of the Cascades.  Kaitlyn Webb, with the Deschutes National Forest, said vegetation is still very dry.   “We really...

After the summer the Northwest has experienced, it should come as no surprise that pasture conditions in the area don’t look great to start the month of October.  USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey noted some of the driest lands are in the Great Plains, and out here in the West.   “Leadi...

It wasn’t just the Northwest that saw large grain numbers in the latest USDA grain stock report.  The markets expected some big grain numbers in the most recent USDA grain stock report, and that's what they got.  For corn USDA put stocks at 1.76 billion bushels, ...

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association reminds students that internship opportunities are available for the spring 2025 semester.  Those opportunities include a public policy internship, a meetings and events internship, and a producer education and sustainability internship.   “...

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a study on replacing the Lower Snake River Dams.  DOE said the Pacific Northwest Regional Energy Planning Project will be an 18-month study, exploring how utilities in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana can deal with future power needs in the event that the Snake River dams are removed.  The stu...

Due to ongoing depredation issues in Pend Oreille and Stevens counties, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved the lethal removal of one adult wolf from the Onion Creek wolf pack.  Just a few weeks ago, WDFW lethally removed two wolves, a yearling female and an adult male, from the Onion Creek territory.  Since A...

Following this year's record fire season in Oregon, legislators are looking ahead to what's next.  Statewide, 1.9 million acres burned in 2024.  State Senator Lynn Findley recently praised a new effort by the State Fire Marshal to send task forces to protect buildings.   "One of th...

American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said America is bracing for the impact of the massive dockworker strike that threatens to paralyze goods in and out of the U.S.  He pointed out that our nation relies on international trade for everything from electronics to machinery.   “...

In a bipartisan vote last week, the House of Representatives passed the Fix Our Forests Act to restore forest health and increase resiliency to catastrophic wildfires.  Central Washington’s Dan Newhouse applauded the measure and said it’s an important first step in protecting the forest and fighting forest fires.   “Every summe...

Tree fruit growers are facing a variety of challenges.  Jon DeVaney with the Washington State Tree Fruit association talks about some of the headwinds local growers are trying to overcome.   If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@to...

The USDA is investing $1.7 billion for purchasing local and regionally produced foods and domestically produced foods for emergency food assistance.  These investments, made possible by the Commodity Credit Corporation, will help American producers by ensuring they have the certainty of access to local and regional markets as well as the financial benefits that come with selling directly to instit

With no new Farm Bill in place after the 2018 Farm Bill deadline passed on September 30th, there are already impacts on U.S. farmers and ranchers.   “Most of the impacts won't be felt until the new crop year, or for dairy producers, the impact will be felt beginning January 1," said Sam Kieffer, vice president of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation.  "But imm... Read Mo

Noble Research Institute and Certified Angus Beef partnered to deliver Land Stewardship, an educational course designed for livestock producers worldwide.  Land Stewardship will launch next month and is an extension of Noble’s curriculum.  It offer...

Food giant Kraft Heinz is leveraging its logistics partnerships to help the nonprofit bring food to communities in need across Europe. When Kraft Heinz was facing challenges in delivering food for nonprofit Rise Against Hunger, the company set out to leverage its existing procurement network through the Kraft Heinz Rise Together Procurement Program...