North Dakota

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins has announced $340.6 million in USDA disaster assistance to deliver relief to farmers, ranchers, and rural communities impacted by natural disasters that have caused devastation across the country.  Secretary Rollins is delivering critical aid through the USDA Disaster Assistance Fund to provide immediate relief to communities that have waited too long for the assistanc

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...

According to NASS, honey production in the United States dipped 4% last year to 134 million pounds.  Nationwide, there were 2.6 million colonies producing honey in 2024, a 3% increase from 2023.  However, yield per colony averaged 51.7 pounds, down 6% y...

Congratulations to Almira, WA wheat-farmer Mike Carstensen, who was elected the U.S. Wheat Associates next Secretary-Treasurer.  Carstensen will take office this July, and serve until June 2026.   Also, at last week’s meeting in Boise, USW voted to make current Secretary-Treasurer Gary Millershaski of Lakin, KS, the next Vice Chairman, and to make current Vice Chairman Jim Pellman of McClusky, ND

Last week, the Bureau of Land Management announced plans to “enhance” greater sage-grouse conservation on public lands in Oregon and Colorado.  The agency said the approved habitat conservation measures will support western communities and benefit more than 350 other wildlife species.  Opponents of the pr...

The Alliance to Advance Climate-Smart Agriculture at Virginia Tech enrolled over 1,300 farms representing more than 202,000 acres.  It’s the first year of a landmark project that incentivizes agricultural producers in four states to adopt climate-smart practices.  The project i...

North Dakota rancher organizations are collecting donations, supplies, and labor to assist ranchers in the northwest part of the state who were devastated by wildfires in October.  An estimated 120,000 acres were burned up by wildfires last month, with high winds of up to 78 miles per hour helping the fires to tear through the region.  Th...

North Dakota’s state veterinarian said the state’s first reported case of anthrax this year is a reminder to livestock producers to take action to protect their animals from disease.  The case included beef cattle from Adams County, North Dakota, and was confirmed by the South Dakota Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Laboratory.   “Produc...

Honey bees and their keepers have been having quite a bit of trouble keeping the colonies strong and alive. You may remember the news headlines started about 15-16 years ago. Headlines about millions of bee colonies dying off, or in some cases, the bees were just disappearing, with the nation's beekeepers losing 30 to 50% of their colonies every year...

The USDA released it’s first numbers from the 2024 sugar beet harvest earlier this week.  USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said things look good nationally in the early stages.   “Nationally, 8% of the crop has been harvested.  The five-year average is...