By Rick Sohn, PhD Umqua Coquille LLC Timber Industry Report December 28, 2015 Mortgage rates remain favorable for homebuyers and warm winter temperatures favor homebuilding, for now. Log prices are high and out of balance with low product prices. Online Mortgage loans are the new kid on the block. Recent […]

By American Farm Bureau Federation The average consumer today may be three to four generations removed from the farm, but they are far from indifferent when it comes to knowing how their food gets to the table. People want the facts about their food–and being entrusted with those facts can […]

There is a standoff in Oregon between the federal government and several hundred defenders of the Hammond family. It made a top story on NBC News (see below). Also, the protest leader, Ammon Bundy of Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, spoke in a rare interview to Fox News (see clip below). […]

By Oregon Department of Agriculture Oregon agriculture’s large impact on the state’s economy is reaffirmed by an updated analysis and report released by Oregon State University. The OSU study, commissioned by the Oregon Department of Agriculture, quantifies the contributions of producers, processors, and others in a variety of economic snapshots […]

California Farm Bureau After more than a decade of negotiations with a variety of stakeholders, the end-of-year deadline for the U.S. Congress to pass legislation approving and funding the Klamath Basin settlement agreements is expected to come and go without final action, leaving the future of the basin’s water supply […]

Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s largest business advocate On November 3, 2015, President Obama issued a memorandum to the Secretaries of Defense, Interior and Agriculture, and the Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration directing them to revise their existing policies to incorporate a new “net […]

By Oregon Department of Agriculture Oregon’s population now tops 4 million people. Whether the continued population increase negatively impacts agriculture remains to be seen, but the state’s land use protections are more important than ever, according to officials with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. “Two must-haves for Oregon agriculture are […]

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association With bipartisan support, Congress passed the $1.15 trillion Omnibus Appropriations Bill today, which funds much of the government through fiscal year 2016. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Philip Ellis said the bill contained several victories for cattlemen and women. Coming within days of facing retaliation from […]

By Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Mark and Patti Bennett of Unity were recognized with the 2015 Riley Freeman Award during the Oregon Cattlemen Association conference in Bend. In giving the award, ODFW Director Curt Melcher praised the Bennetts for being model stewards on their working cattle ranch in […]

By National Association of Wheat Growers FY 2016 Omnibus, Tax Agreement Reached, Congressional Action This Week Yesterday Congressional negotiators released the text of an agreement to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2016 and to make permanent a number of important tax provisions. The House of Representatives […]