By California Farm Bureau By Kate Campbell It’s going to be a long, hot summer—that’s a given in California’s interior valleys. What isn’t known, farmers say, is how well billions of dollars’ worth of food crops will weather the heat amid severe irrigation water cutbacks. The season’s final survey of […]

Wyden, Merkley Ask Agriculture, Interior Secretaries for Emergency Grazing Rights on Federal Land in Southeastern and South Central Oregon By U.S. Senator Ron Wyden Faced with another year of drought conditions in Southeastern and South Central Oregon, Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are asking the Department of Agriculture […]

  By Daily Digger Oregon Association of Nurseries Driver’s card opponents seek referendum To the surprise of few observers, the anti-immigration group Oregonians for Immigration Reform has started a petition drive to undo recently passed Senate Bill 833. If successful, they would deny undocumented residents their recently-won ability to get […]

By Oregon Farm Bureau Cougar Management Bill The bill that allows the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to manage Oregon’s cougar population by licensing agents to hunt cougars with dogs has currently stalled in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee. HB 2390 lifts the sunset date of […]

 National Farmers Union (NFU) President Roger Johnson issued the following statement regarding the release of the initial draft of the 2013 Farm Bill by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry: “NFU is encouraged that the initial draft of the farm bill has been circulated to members of the […]

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association The Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition today praised the introduction of legislation that would assist in establishing a stable workforce that can help sustain the rural communities where farmers, ranchers and food manufacturers grow and process the nation’s and world’s food supply. “The introduction of this legislation, […]

By American Farm Bureau The Health Insurance Tax will hurt small business employees the hardest, according to congressional testimony today by New York Farm Bureau President and dairy owner Dean Norton. Testifying before the House Small Business Subcommittee on Health and Technology, Norton, also a board member of the American […]

By Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife ODFW fish biologist Ben Walczak with one of the rainbow tagged with entries in Cabela’s “Fish for Millions” contest. Anglers who catch one of these fish can redeem the tags at Cabela’s for prizes up to $2 million. The contest runs from May […]

By Rick Sohn, Umpqua Coquille LLC Wood products set records in April and pushed all prices higher, as log shortages still are  an issue.  Housing starts finally broke through 1 million for the first time in 5 years.  Seven-year trend of lumber, logs, housing, and mortgage statistics are shown below. […]

  By Oregon State University Extension Office The spotted wing drosophila lays eggs in small and stone fruits, creating cosmetic blemishes. (photo by Vaughn Walton.) The spotted wing drosophila fly, which lays its eggs in fruit and makes it unmarketable, could reach record population levels in the Pacific Northwest this […]