Malheur County

On Friday, Oregon senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced funding they say will boost habitat restoration in the eastern portion of the state.  The $679,690 from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will go to five projects, supporting management of invasive grasses, reducing wildfire risks, and restoring sagebrush habitat.   “Rest...

Farm operations in Oregon have been significantly impacted by recent wildfires.  To help, the NRCS-Oregon technical and financial assistance available to help farmers and livestock producers recover from these wildfire events.   A total of $2 million of FY24 funds have newly been made available to support producers in wildfire recovery. Producer...

Governor Tina Kotek has issued two more drought declarations in Central Oregon.  The emergency declarations for Deschutes and Grant counties clear the way for state coordination of resources in an area now in its fourth year of drought.  ...

Idaho potato stocks as of February 1st  totaled 64.5 million cwt.  Disappearance of the Idaho crop to date was 56.2 million cwt.  Oregon potato stocks totaled 13.1 million cwt.  Disappearance to date was 11.8 million cwt.  In Washington, pot...

USDA will invest $7 million in a rural Clackamas County internet provider, with the hopes of providing broadband service to 500 unserved households.  USDA Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh made the announcement Tuesday at Clear Creek Communications.   “...

On Thursday, the USDA awarded $502 million in loans and grants to provide high-speed internet access for rural residents and businesses in 20 states.  USDA is making the investments through the third funding round of the ReConnect Program.   ...

After two years of record damage from grasshoppers, Eastern Oregonians and the state Department of Agriculture are bracing for another summer of the pests. “Some areas of Malheur County, last year, they ate all the food out there.  And they were kind of concerned about the antelope starving to death.  They wer...

On Monday, the USDA confirmed a case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Idaho along the Oregon border. Therefore, USDA has implemented a regional quarantine that extends into Malheur County. The Oregon Department of Agriculture has an online map that shows the HPAI outbreak and quarantine areas in Oregon ...

Oregon Governor Kate Brown issued drought declarations for four counties, Monday afternoon. Citing low snowpack, low reservoir levels and low streamflows, Brown declared drought emergencies in Deschutes, Lake, Malheur and Grant counties. She said forecasted water supply conditions and precipitation levels are not expected to improve, with drought likely to have a significant economic impact on fa

On Friday, a senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Interior rescinded a January Trump administration decision to grant grazing allotments to Hammond Ranches in the Burns, OR area. Steven Hammond and his father Dwight were both convicted of arson for setting fire to rangeland that eventually spilled on to federal property ...