labor costs

The 2025 growing season was a good one for many commodities across Idaho, but unfortunately, the cost of doing business is still resulting in struggles for farmers and growers across the state.

With so many challenges before tree fruit growers, are there concerns many of those growers will leave the industry all together?

It was a reoccurring story for much of the past year; tighter margin for many producers in 2024.  And it’s expected that trend will continue as 2025 starts, due in part to input costs.   “We're seeing commodity prices, which have fallen pretty fast pretty far, pretty quickly, but not all the input prices have done the same and that's kind of where we end up with these tighter margins," said U

Jon DeVaney, President of the Washington Tree Fruit Association, discusses how different costs are impacting tree fruit growers across the Northwest.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@to...

How can the technology used by Terrantic help producers address labor costs?  Trevor Cox explains.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com 

Trevor Cox, founder of Terrantic, talk about the labor challenges facing the fresh food industry, and how Terrantic can help.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com ...

Time and cost are two of the factors that apple producers must consider in this day and age. Jim Bair of the U.S. Apple Association said on average it takes four years for a new apple orchard to produce market ready fruit. "It's very expensive ...

Increases in the minimum wages mandated under the H-2A program present a challenge to farmers who are already facing tight margins.  Veronica Nigh, American Farm Bureau Federation economist, said the number of certified positions under the program increased 10% year over year.  Sh...