Pacific Northwest Ag Network

It's been ten years since the Washington State Department of Agriculture first detected this destructive pest.

The Washington Legislative Session starts January 13th, and already the farming community is preparing for a host of issues that will have major impacts now and well into the future.  Bre Elsey, Director of Governmental Affairs at the Washington Farm Bureau, said when looking at the data, labor will be one of the most pressing topics.  She not...

On Friday, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ordered testing of the nation's milk supply for bird flu.  The Department said testing of raw or unpasteurized milk will help better monitor the spread of the virus in dairy cows.  Testing of r...

The cattle industry was front and center in Pendleton for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association’s Convention late last week.  Matt McElligott, President of the OCA, said he was happy with the turn out.    “Excellent speakers and committee meeting.  We got a lot done, and so we can mo...

Earlier this year, a unique milk processing facility opened its doors east of Twin Falls.  Suntado is a 190,000 square-foot “state of the art” facility that will process, initially, between 800,000 and one million pounds of milk per day.  And when completely...

Much like the national figures, Oregon’s workforce is aging.  In fact, 33% of workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing industries in the Beaver State are 55 years of age or older.  In addition, Oregon is one of the oldest states in the nation, with the median resident about 17 months older, than the average American.  One sector that’s feeli...

Some of the numbers from USDA's latest look at irrigation and water management within agriculture.    “There were 212,714 farms and they irrigated 53 million acres.  It was down a little bit from 2018, where the survey showed that there were 231,000 farms with close to 56 million irrigated acres, so down 8% in total, farms irrigating and about 5% for acres irrigated,” noted Julie Weber with NASS. 

NTCA, the Rural Broadband Association, said it is pleased that the Supreme Court announced it would review a decision from the Fifth Circuit Appeals Court regarding the federal Universal Service Fund.  Specifically, the nation’s highest court will look into the constitutionality of the mechanism for contributions to the Universal Service Fund.     “The...

USDA is bolstering support for farmers facing crop setbacks by announcing an increase in replant payments for most producers beginning with the 2026 crop year.  This initiative aims to provide financial assistance to farmers who need to replant insured crops damaged by early insurable causes of loss.  The enh...

Oregon FFA Treasure Vivian Seaholm has tips and perspective when it comes to advocating for the farming industry.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com ...

Representative Dan Newhouse said he thinks the farming community will benefit greatly with the return of President Trump.  The Central Washington Republican said trade has been one of his biggest frustrations with this current administration, which as he pointed out is vital for the state’s farm economy.   “I rea...

Congratulations to North Lake School teacher Hannah McAuliffe, earlier this fall she was named the 2024 Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Educator of the Year.  Oregon AITC said McAuliffe was selected for her integration of agriculture into core subjects.  McAulif...

Washington State University's Dr. Markus Keller talks about their new late season irrigation study, and the kind of data and information he hopes to pull in the future.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@to...

After the Farm Bill extension expired at the end of September, there was hope across farm country that a new piece of legislation would be crafted and approved before the end of the year.  At this point, it doesn’t appear the lame duck Congress will address the Farm Bill before breaking for Christmas.   Chis H...

A company letter released this week said Cargill will permanently terminate almost 500 employees in Minnesota, home to the company’s corporate headquarters.  The terminations will begin on February 5th.  Cargill recently announced it would cut approximately 5% of its overall staff after revenue took a hit in its most recent fiscal year thanks to a big slump in crop prices.   In ad...

Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin as well as Iowa's Joni Ernst recently announced their “Access to Capital Creates Economic Strength and Supports Rural America Act” unanimously passed in the Senate.  The ACCESS Act expands rural broadband access by easing the burden of regulatory costs for smaller broadband providers that rural communities rely on.  Baldwin said access...

The Food and Drug Administration and the USDA announced a joint request for information about food date labeling, which includes the use of terms like “Sell By,” “Use By,” and “Best By.”  The information request asks for data on industry practices and preferences for date labeling, research results on consumer perceptions of date labeling and any impact date labeling may have on food waste and gro

The Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed rule to revoke tolerances for chlorpyrifos, which establishes the amount of a pesticide that’s allowed on food.  This rule revokes all tolerances for chlorpyrifos, except for those tolerances associated with the 11 food and feed crops that would remain registered. The EPA s...

Biden administration officials won’t finalize guidelines on new clean fuel production tax credits intended for the airline and biofuel industries before the officials leave office in January.  Three sources told Reuters that casts significant doubt on the future of a key piece of the president’s climate goals.  The tax credit...

With cases of bird flu in cattle reported across the western U.S., as well as cases in pigs and humans here in the Northwest, health officials are watching the H5N1 strain very closely.  But, why is this strain so devastating for domestic birds?   ...

Washington State University Extension is working with foresters in the western part of the state to tap an emerging market.  Thanks to funding from the state Department of Agriculture, WSU Extension is supporting bigleaf maple syrup production.    ...