Pacific Northwest Ag Network

It’s been over four years since the United States has entered into a free trade agreement.  Many in the Ag community will say that is one of the many pressures making farming more challenging these days.  House Ag Committee member Dan Newhouse said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative h...

Levi Kukes, Washington FFA's 2024-2025 Vice President, says for the farming industry to thrive into the future, he believes more must be done to get industry in front of the next generation of Ag workers.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@to...

The Washington State Department of Agriculture will host a webinar Tuesday, focused on preparing for Japanese Beetle treatments this year.  WSDA said the 45 minute on-line session will show those in impacted areas how the sign up for treatment, how to prepare for treatments, and know when the treatment is over.  The Dep...

Last week, Oregon senator Ron Wyden introduced the U.S.-Cuba Trade Act of 2025 to repeal “outdated sanctions” on Cuba and establish normal trade relations with the island nation. Wyden introduced the bill after the Biden White House announced it was removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and Cuba agreed to free a number of political prisoners.  His fellow Ore...

In 2023, roughly 86% of all farms across the United States were small, family farms.  A USDA report says these farms have a gross cash income below $350,000 and operate on 41% of all U.S. agricultural land.  The family farms produced 17% of the total value of U.S. agricultural pro...

Julia Lauch has been designated as Idaho's State Forester.  Lauch will oversee IDL’s Forestry and Fire Division which manages wildland fire suppression, forestry assistance, and various forestry and fire management initiatives, including the Good Neighbor Authority, Shared Stewardship, and Forest Legacy programs.   Lauch ...

Now that her time at the USDA has come to an end, former Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Alexis Taylor has joined the International Fresh Produce Association as chief global policy officer.  She will start her new role at the Association on February 18th.   ...

The numbers are in from the National Centers for Environmental Information.   “As it played out, December of 2024 ended up being the 4th warmest December on record, with an average temperature that was more than 5 1/2 degrees above the 20th century mean,” said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.  And he said when yo...

Is Ukraine still relevant in the world corn and wheat export markets?  Joana Colussi, with the University of Illinois, has been writing about the subject for the Farmdoc Daily Website.  Since the beginning of the war with Russia, Colussi says Ukraine's economy has been hit hard.  Its GDP...

The 2025 Oregon Legislative Session gets underway next week in Salem.  And while the priorities for the farming community vary quite a bit, there will be several key issues discussed; water, regulation and overtime.  For Jeff Stone Executive Director for the Oregon Nurseries Association, overtime will be one of, if not the top issues.   “What we'r...