Crop Damage Assessment Underway in Hawaii
Farmers on the Big Island of Hawaii are assessing damage to crops after Tropical Storm Iselle made landfall last weekend. “It was pretty clear to us that the papaya farmers took the highest amount of...
View ArticleWyoming Event Raises $56,000 For Blizzard-Hit South Dakota Ranchers
An auction in Gillette, Wyo. raised $56,000 for ranchers in South Dakota who lost nearly 20,000 head of cattle in a blizzard last month. The Gillette News-Record reported nearly 500 people attended...
View ArticleMichigan Farmers Can Get Loan Help After Hail Storms
Farmers in 20 Michigan counties that had damage from severe hail storms earlier this year are eligible for emergency loans. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan announced the support Wednesday...
View ArticleCalifornia Farmers Hire Dowsers To Find Water
With California in the grips of drought, farmers throughout the state are using a mysterious and some say foolhardy tool for locating underground water: dowsers, or water witches. Practitioners of...
View ArticleWildfire Bill Again Delayed In Colorado Legislature
The Colorado Legislature has once again delayed a vote on a bill aimed at preventing agricultural fires from starting wildfires. The move on Friday came after its sponsor said he wanted to kill the...
View ArticleDeep Freeze Damages California Citrus Crop
A weeklong blast of sub-freezing temperatures across California has damaged the state’s $2 billion citrus crop, but it will take several weeks before the extent of the loss is quantified, agricultural...
View ArticleMillions in Aid for Drought-Stricken California Promises Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama is offering millions of dollars in aid and other assistance to California farmers, ranchers and communities beset by one of the worst droughts in the state’s history. The...
View ArticleCalifornia Almond Farmers Face Tough Choices Amid Drought
With California’s agricultural heartland entrenched in drought, almond farmers are letting orchards dry up and in some cases making the tough call to have their trees torn out of the ground, leaving...
View ArticleCalifornia Drought Spawns Well Drilling Boom
The scarcity of irrigation water in drought-stricken California has created such a demand for well drilling services that Central Valley farmer Bob Smittcamp is taking matters into his own hands. He’s...
View ArticleDisaster Loans Made Available for New Mexico Small Businesses
Small businesses in eight New Mexico counties are eligible for federal disaster loans due to the drought. The U.S. Small Business Administration made the announcement Friday, saying the loans can help...
View ArticleDrought Threatens To Dry Up California Farm Wells
Farmers in pockets of California hardest hit by the drought could begin to see their wells run dry a year from now if rain and snow remain scarce in the agriculturally rich state, according to a study...
View ArticleOregon Irrigators out of Water as Drought Persists
In the third year of a drought, reservoirs in far Eastern Oregon are low, and farmers are running out of irrigation water. South of Ontario, Jay Chamberlin of the Owyhee (oh-WEYE’-hee) Irrigation...
View ArticleHay Prices Soaring Thanks to California Drought
The cost of feeding California’s horses and cows is skyrocketing as the state’s persistent drought sends hay prices to historic highs. Tracy Underwood of the Santa Rosa Equestrian Center told the...
View ArticleBarley Crops In Montana, Idaho Rain Damaged
That rain on the plain that saturated Montana’s malt barley crop in late August could be tears in the beer of American brewers in 2015. Heavy late-August rains have damaged crops in the nation’s...
View ArticleMontana Crops Besieged by Floodwaters
The round hay bales in the Saco flats have turned dark with mud and mildew. The high-water mark rises halfway up these slumping, soggy bales – thousands of which dot the fields along U.S. Highway 12 –...
View ArticleCalifornia Drought Bad Tidings for Rice Harvest
California’s deepening drought is shrinking its rice harvest, and that’s bad news for farmers, migratory birds and sushi lovers. The $5 billion industry exports rice to more than 100 countries and...
View Article2014 was Record Year for Idaho Farmers, Ranchers: Report
A new University of Idaho report says 2014 was another record year for Idaho farmers and ranchers. Researchers say sales of milk, livestock and crops reached nearly $10 billion, the fourth year in a...
View ArticleACE Launches Pollution Liability Coverage for Agriculture Risks
ACE Group has introduced a new agriculture premises pollution liability coverage that provides limited pollution liability protection in conjunction with ACE’s Agribusiness Commercial general liability...
View ArticleReport Says Climate Change Could Make Some Wines Less Tasty
When you go to one of those giant annual insurance conferences ever wonder how much wine – in terms of gallons, number of glasses, bottles, dollar value – is consumed at all the evening mixers and...
View ArticleMidwest Study: More Lighting Would Cut Farm Vehicle Crashes by 60%
Traffic accidents involving farm vehicles in the Midwest would drop by more than 60 percent if state policies required more lighting and reflection on those vehicles, according to a study from the...
View ArticleStudy: Injection Wells, Agriculture Harming Bays in Maui
A team of University of Hawaii scientists has completed a study of nearshore ecosystems across Maui that shows the impact of discharged treated wastewater. The findings were published in the scientific...
View ArticleFarmers Balk as Trump Budget Caps Crop Insurance Subsidies
U.S. farm groups on Tuesday pushed back against President Donald Trump’s proposal to slash agriculture spending, viewing it as a fresh threat to a struggling farm economy. The White House on Monday...
View ArticleIdaho Manure Pond Deaths Raise Concerns About Farmworker Safety
It was still dark the morning Ruperto Vazquez-Carrera began his shift at Sunrise Organic Dairy in Idaho. It was mid-February 2016. A winter heat wave had melted snow and ice overnight, flooding part of...
View ArticleWashington Wheat Farmers Oppose Proposed Trump Budget Cuts to Crop Insurance
Washington state wheat farmers are protesting cuts to their safety net programs in a budget proposal released by President Donald Trump this week. The Spokesman-Review review reports growers are...
View ArticleWyoming’s Governor is Seeking Disaster Help for Beet Farmers
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is asking for a federal disaster declaration to help farmers affected by cold weather in October. Two cold spells with warm weather in between harmed sugar beet crops in...
View ArticleNew Mexico Lawmakers Say Farmers Shortchanged on Disaster Aid
New Mexico’s congressional delegation is calling for more oversight of a federal agency after some farmers and ranchers were shortchanged on disaster aid and Hispanic farmers who rely on traditional...
View ArticleDrought Indicators in Western States Flash Warnings of the ‘Big One’
Sarah Brunner opened the irrigation spigots on her farm in March, three months early. The rain should have still been falling in California. Now that summer is taking hold, she and her husband are...
View ArticleDrought Will Impact Pacific Northwest This Summer, Experts Warn
Drought is expected to impact much of the Pacific Northwest this summer, including areas in eastern Washington, southern Oregon and southern Idaho, according to climatology and water officials. A...
View ArticleMontana’s Resilient Fishing Economy Tested by Climate Change
Montana’s fishing economy has proven resilient amid the impacts of drought, but a new study suggests that 35% of its cold water habitats could become unsuitable for trout by 2080, costing the state an...
View ArticleMarkets/Coverages: NIP Expands GrowPro Program to Include Agricultural Property
NIP Group announced the nationwide expansion of its GrowPro insurance program. Originally designed to cater to hydroponic growers, greenhouse operators, nurseries, garden centers, and indoor vertical...
View Article
