Montana

You’ve probably noticed that local cherries have finally made their way to neighborhood grocery stores and fruit stands across the Northwest.  And the expectation this year is for a sizeable crop.  Northwest Cherries is expecting a crop this year between 22-22.5 million 20-pound boxes. ...

Thanks to rains showers over the past couple of weeks, east of the Rockies, pasture and rangeland conditions nationwide have improved.   “We have seen the good-to-excellent ratings jumping to 46% and is up three percentage points from last week and at this point only 28% rated very poor-to-poor," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.  "That is...

The spring wheat crop appears to be progressing nicely nationwide.   With planting wrapped up for the 2025 season, the industry can now look at emergence numbers.   “82% of the crop emerged by June 8th, one point ahead of average, four points behind last year's 86%," said USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey.  "The crop is fully...

The size of the 2025 cherry crop looks good across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah.  How does the quality look?  For that we turn to BJ Thurlby, President of Northwest Cherries.     If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquareme...

Cherry producers from across the Northwest met in Richland, WA, this week, and rolled out the first estimate of the 2025 crop.  Northwest Cherry Growers said they are expecting a crop of 21.4 million 20-pound boxes this year, between Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Utah.  If...

At a press conference on Capitol Hill last week, House Ag Committee Democrats railed against Republican plans to cut spending on food aid in SNAP.  The Democrats emphasized that funding for SNAP supports hungry families as well as farmers, grocery workers, truckers, and food manufacturers.    ...

Five U.S. states have now officially banned lab-grown meat.   Last week, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and distribution of the product.  Earlier this week, Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed a two-year ban into law, followed by strict labeling laws after the law expires.   “The ...

A U.S. District Court has stopped a logging project in northern Idaho that environmental groups claim could harm the Selkirk grizzly population habitat.  Estimates say roughly 50 grizzlies live in that portion of Idaho.  Mike Garrity head of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, a Montana-based conservation organization, which has been in litigation with the Forest Service over this issue for nearly

The Interior Department may see more lawsuits after announcing it would no longer require the Bureau of Land Management to create an environmental impact statement for more than 3,200 oil and gas leases in seven states. The Biden administration started work on the review four days before President Trump took office in January...

Last week, Idaho senators passed House Joint Memorial 4 which asks the federal government to remove the grizzly bear from the Endangered Species List.  The Memorial, which already cleared the House, says grizzly bears have reached recovery goals in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, and those elevated population numbers have led to conflicts between bears and both humans and other animals alike.     Fol