Pacific Northwest Ag Network

Lori Stevermer, president of the National Pork Producers Council, recently testified before the U.S. Senate Ag Committee on the state of the U.S. agricultural economy.  Stevermer highlighted the top pork industry issue, California’s Prop 12, a state regulation posing an “existential threat” to all of U.S. agriculture.   ...

The final approval for a new six-year contract agreement between the International Longshoreman’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance was given by the ILA.  The approved contract will run from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2030.  Almost 9...

President Trump has slapped an additional 10% tariff on China, bringing the total to 205 on all Chinese imports.  President Trump has accused China of not doing enough to prevent fentanyl flow into the U.S., and China responded by calling the move blackmail.  As a re...

With a five-year Farm Bill now two years overdue, sugarbeet and sugarcane farmers from across the country were in Washington, DC, recently to tell Congress they need a new Farm Bill as soon as possible.  This is Gus Hasbargen’s first time participating in the annual fly-in meetings organized by the American Sugar Alliance.  He said ...

The value of U.S. agricultural exports in fiscal year 2025 is expected to drop to the lowest level in five years.  USDA said shipments this year are projected to be valued at $170.5 billion, up from the $170 billion in the November 2024 outlook.  That wo...

At its 2025 Winter Policy Conference, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture called on Congress to develop comprehensive strategies to address agricultural labor challenges and border security.  The new policy item says comprehensive agricultural labor reform is needed to allow access to the H-2A program for year-round agriculture industries, creating a pathway to legal statu

Consumers may not realize the extent of products, of promotions, of farm and forest goods, you come across that have a connection with producer funded commodity checkoff programs.  Entities with oversight from the Agriculture Department.  ...

For the 17th time in the last 18 months, the Rural Mainstreet Index dropped below 50 in February.  That’s from the monthly survey of bank CEOs across a ten-state region reliant on agriculture and energy.   The index plummeted from 42.3 in January to 38 i...

House Ag Chair G.T. Thompson renewed his calls this week for Farm Bill SNAP reforms that scuttled last year’s Farm Bill effort.  That came during a debate on a narrowly-passed House budget that the Senate must still consider.   Thomps...

Questions abound about the health and direction of the farm economy.  Ben Brown, agricultural economist with the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, said he’s getting a lot of questions about the overall U.S. economy.   I...