Row Crop

The USDA released it’s first numbers from the 2024 sugar beet harvest earlier this week.  USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said things look good nationally in the early stages.   “Nationally, 8% of the crop has been harvested.  The five-year average is...

Registration is now open for the 2025 Clean Fuels Conference, the must-attend event for the biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel industries. Hosted by Clean Fuels Alliance America, it takes place January 20-23, in San Diego, CA...

Chris Voigt, Executive Director of the Washington State Potato Commission said he started this harvest season with a lot of optimism, but now he’s a bit more cautious.  Voigt said it’s not clear what impact, if any, the prolonged heat of July and August had on this year’s late season varieties, so there is some reason for concern.  But, despite those issues...

The J.R. Simplot Company announced Wednesday that Brent Hocklander has been tapped as the company’s its next Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Financial Officer.  Hocklander will take over for Brent Moylan who announced his retirement earlier this year.   “Brent...

Boise-based Simplot will close a manufacturing plant in California, and separately close a number of its Simplot Grower Solutions locations.  The company announced last year it would shut down its plant in Lathrop, California.  The plant is part Company’s Mining & Manufacturing division and makes fertilizer, feed phosphates and industrial products.  According to BoiseDev, the ...

Washington’s farming community set a record two years ago.  Ag production in 2022 totaled $12.8 billion, shattering the previous record high of $10.4 billion in 2015 and up 27% from the revised previous year value of $10.1 billion.  The value of ...

A Washington, D.C., Circuit Court panel vacated a swath of government decisions denying requests from small fossil fuel refineries to be temporarily exempt from the Renewable Fuel Standard.   In 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency denied all pending exemption requests from small refineries, finding the only costs that could cause such economic hardship were those tied to compliance with the

U.S. sugar industry leaders met in Seattle, WA last week for the 39th annual International Sweetener Symposium hosted by the American Sugar Alliance.  This year’s conference was titled “Stability, Security, Safety: The Need for a Strong Farm Bill”.  National Farmers Union Pr...

In a bipartisan show of support for U.S. sugar policy, Representatives Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Rick Larsen (D-WA), and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) all spoke at the International Sweetener Symposium in Seattle earlier this month.  Each of the members noted the importance of agriculture, particularly sugarbeets, to their region of the country.   ...

Growers in Central Washington are breathing a sigh of relief after crews were able to repair damage to a breached irrigation canal.  On Monday August 5th, the East Low Canal breached, cutting water to Columbia Basin irrigators. "You know going five, six, seven, 10-14 days without water and a potato crop would be very detrimental and once you fall behind an irrigation you just can't catch back