drought

Wildfire season hit Idaho cattle country hard in 2026, shrinking available pasture when producers could least afford to lose it.

After a rough year of restrictions, Yakima Basin water users can breathe easier. Full October supplies are coming.

Hood River County joins 21 others under drought emergency, bringing half the state to critical water status.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced a water resilience bill this week addressing Oregon's growing drought crisis. The legislation would invest in watershed improvements and infrastructure projects.

Recent rain helped, but wildfire danger isn't gone yet. Fire season keeps going strong through October around here.

Kansas wheat fields are coming up short in a big way this year. Drought and freeze damage have pushed the expected harvest down to 196 million bushels, nearly half of what farmers brought in just last year.

Dry summer heat is taking a toll on pastures from the Pacific Coast to the Great Plains. Nationwide, only one in four acres of rangeland is rated good to excellent right now, and the numbers keep slipping.

After a brutal drought hit eastern Washington's growing season, the USDA opened up low-interest emergency loans for farmers in Asotin, Garfield, and Whitman counties — with a March 8th deadline to apply.

Ranchers who lose animals to protected predators like wolves or bears will now get 100 percent of market value reimbursed under updated federal livestock programs — up from 75 percent.

A USDA disaster designation is now in place for nine eastern Idaho counties after this year's drought, and farmers there can apply for emergency loans to help cover livestock losses, equipment costs, or debt relief before March 1st.