drought

Much of the country remains very dry as we start the second week of the New Year.  With the exception of Washington, drought numbers held steady last week across the Northwest and across the country.   Currently 37% of the Evergreen State is where it should be soil moisture wise for this time of year.  In addition,...

Bryan Searle says while 2022 was a challenging year thanks to input costs, for Idaho producers the previous year was a good one.  The President of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation says potato, hay and other growers enjoyed really good yields, and strong prices.  But unf...

According to the latest numbers from the U.S. Drought monitor, only 9% of Oregon is where it should be for soil moisture numbers for this time of year.  And of that 91% that’s dry, the driest conditions are found in the central part of the state, with a large portion of Crook County under a Exceptional Drought designation.  While snowpac...

Carbon farming is a hot topic for row crop growers, but what opportunities are available for ranchers to get involved in the carbon market?  Jerry Stephens is the regional sales manager for Agoro in the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest.  He...

Statistics Canada has released it’s third-quarter results for the Prairie provinces harvest, and there were some surprises from September’s estimates.  Bruce Burnette, chief markets analyst with Markets Farm based in Winnipeg, said nearly all Canadian Prairie harvest numbers where improved from last year’s drought-affected results.  Some of the largest ...

Maddie Dollarhide, the 22-23 Oregon FFA Secretary, says water rights are top of mind for a variety of growers across the west.  Especially in central and southern Oregon.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-9791, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsqu...

Oregon senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkely as well as Washington’s Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell joined 10 others this week sending a letter to the USDA about the western Drought and conservation priorities.  The lawmakers are asking the agency to give parity to the urgent priorities of Western growers and communities through existing authorities, new funding, and collaboration across government.  

While our calendars are prepared to roll over to a brand-new year in the coming weeks, we’re in the heart of the current water year, which started back on October 1st.  The past couple of water years have been dry across the Pacific Northwest, so these November rain and December snow showers have been welcomed relief.  But, Terrell ...

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says there was considerable improvement in the U.S. drought monitor during the month of November.  He noted between November 1st and the end of the month, drought coverage dropped 5.3 percentage points to 57% of the country being categorized as dry our drought.   “...

Acknowledging every year has its ups and its down, Cameron Mulrony said 2022 was a challenging year for local cattle producers to say the least.  Mulrony, the Executive Vice President of the Idaho Cattle Association, said the region was very fortunate to get precipitation mid and late spring.  He note...