Pacific Northwest Ag Network

Some of the numbers from USDA's latest look at irrigation and water management within agriculture.    “There were 212,714 farms and they irrigated 53 million acres.  It was down a little bit from 2018, where the survey showed that there were 231,000 farms with close to 56 million irrigated acres, so down 8% in total, farms irrigating and about 5% for acres irrigated,” noted Julie Weber with NASS. 

NTCA, the Rural Broadband Association, said it is pleased that the Supreme Court announced it would review a decision from the Fifth Circuit Appeals Court regarding the federal Universal Service Fund.  Specifically, the nation’s highest court will look into the constitutionality of the mechanism for contributions to the Universal Service Fund.     “The...

The Food and Drug Administration and the USDA announced a joint request for information about food date labeling, which includes the use of terms like “Sell By,” “Use By,” and “Best By.”  The information request asks for data on industry practices and preferences for date labeling, research results on consumer perceptions of date labeling and any impact date labeling may have on food waste and gro

A company letter released this week said Cargill will permanently terminate almost 500 employees in Minnesota, home to the company’s corporate headquarters.  The terminations will begin on February 5th.  Cargill recently announced it would cut approximately 5% of its overall staff after revenue took a hit in its most recent fiscal year thanks to a big slump in crop prices.   In ad...

The American Consumers Institute is the latest organization to voice strong support for the bipartisan AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.  Nate Scherer, policy analyst for the group, said AM radio is vital for ensuring public safety and maintaining access to vital information for millions of Americans.  Mo...

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner serving ten people is down slightly.  Bernt Nelson, AFBF economist, says their volunteer shoppers found the average cost for that dinner for ten will run $58.08, a yea...

The Congressional Budget Office released a second cost analysis for the revised AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2024.  Radio Ink says the scoring still bodes well for radio.   The estimated budgetary effects of the Senate and House bills are similar.  The CBO esti...

The Great ShakeOut took place October 17th, which encouraged everyone to prepare in the event of a major earthquake.  But, does that mean you should consider getting earthquake insurance?  If a quake damages your home, and you don't have earthquake insurance, you'll be on the hook for repairs.   "The first...

It's that time of year when millions of us are out there looking for our own versions of the Great pumpkin for our Halloween Jack-O-Lantern.  But why do we do this?  Why do we carve strange faces and pumpkins lighting them from inside and placing them at our doorsteps at Halloween? Well, Ag...

Across the country, skyrocketing prices, wages and operating costs have shuttered hundreds of thousands of American farms.  MSN reports in the past five years alone, over 140,000 American farms have tilled for the last time. Going back to 1950, 66% of all U.S. f...