Lance Honig

Hop farming in the northwest hit its peak in 2021, right when craft beer was at its most popular, and acreage has been quietly shrinking every year since.

With the Fourth of July around the corner, cherry growers are facing a tough season, as weather challenges reduce the harvest to one of the smallest in over a decade.

Starting later this month, NASS will kick off the 3rd and final phase of the 2025 Agricultural Resource Management Survey.

This Friday, the USDA is releasing one of its more anticipated crop production reports. So, why does farm country look forward to this crop production report more than others?

Overall, 85% of farms this year reported that they have Internet access. That's actually equal to the number reported back in 2023.

“January 1st we had 2.63 million honeybee colonies here in the U.S.," said Lane Honig with NASS. "That was down 1% from a year earlier. But by April 1st of this year, that number was up to 2.99 million colonies."

NASS reported that the ‘2025 maple syrup crop totaled 5.77 million gallons; down 1.5% from previous seasons production

The USDA’s latest Census of Agriculture subsurvey focuses on the area of horticulture specialties.   “We're talking about floriculture, horticulture, nursery type crops, sod, food crops grown under glass," said NASS' Lance Honig.  "That’s kind of the...

When it comes to USDA’s crop production forecasts.   “By the time we get to November, the forecasts are usually very close to what we end up saying as the final yields,” noted NASS' Lance Honig.  And the USDA's Ag statistics service will release its crop production forecast later this week.   “In a year like this in part...

Speaking of the USDA’s October crop production forecast   How likely is it that the crop yields being forecast in this report end up being the yields.  Lance Honig with USDA’s NASS says, "very likely".  He noted that the October USDA crop yield forecast over the years, remarkably accurate most of the time.   “In fact, over the last 25 years...