farming Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

The dirty work of owning mason bees

By Lauren Gallup October 21, 2024

Workers at Rent Mason Bees sort through bee cocoons on a light table that allows them to see through the cocoon. (Credit: Lauren Gallup / NWPB)

Every October in the backyard of a Bothell home, a team of workers swarm around millions of blue orchard mason bees, to harvest the hibernating bees. The company, Rent Mason Bees, quickly takes apart and cleans the wooden nesting blocks that gardeners and farmers across the state use in the spring to house these tiny pollinators. The company offers this service as part Read More

New funding to build farmworker housing in the Pacific Northwest, nationwide

By Lauren Gallup April 24, 2024

Farmworkers in the Skagit Valley tulip fields. (Credit: Brad Smith / Flickr)

The United States Department of Agriculture is soliciting applications for funding to build farmworker housing nationwide. In the Pacific Northwest, leaders hope the money can address gaps in farmworker housing. The Pacific Northwest is in a housing crisis and that impacts rural small businesses and agricultural producers, as well as farmworkers, said Helen Price Johnson, Read More

‘Vintage year’ for apple crop, experts say the weather was just right

By Anna King November 9, 2023

Freshly picked red delicious apples gather in a bin. Northwest red delicious and galas are again shipping to India after tariffs were lifted. (Courtesy: Washington Apple Commission) Read Many Northwest […]Read More

Light headed: Stressed Northwest wheat may yield disappointing harvest

By Anna King July 13, 2023

A field of wheat stands straight up and lovely just uphill from the Snake River outside of Windust, Washington – but tall standing wheat can also mean that the heads […]Read More

Congress members dive into Northwest dams debate

By Courtney Flatt June 28, 2023

The Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. CREDIT: BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION

The Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River. CREDIT: BPA Listen (Runtime 1:02) Read At a Congressional hearing in Richland, Wash., designed to defend the four Lower Snake River dams […]Read More

Spring push: Long cool spring, then record warm weather sends Northwest farmers scrambling

By Anna King May 4, 2023

Celestino Mendoza, 68, of Kennewick, says it’s been a lot of work to harvest a giant push of asparagus with the record-warm spring weather across much of the Northwest. [Photo: […]Read More

Lawmaker proposes ban to keep foreign entities from buying Washington forest and farmland

By Tom Banse February 17, 2023

Conversations with farmers in the Skagit Valley, seen here from Samish Overlook, inspired a Democratic state legislator to propose to bar foreign entities from buying Washington croplands

Legislators in Washington state are joining more than a dozen other states that are considering whether to restrict or ban foreign entities from buying farmland. The initial hearing on Olympia's version of the foreign ownership restrictions however drew more criticism than support on Tuesday.Read More

StoryCorps Northwest – Harriet Weber & Nancy Warner: The Romance and Reality of Farming

By Connor Henricksen September 28, 2022

Harriet Weber (left) and Nancy Warner at their StoryCorps Northwest recording in Moses Lake. Listen (Runtime 4:23) Read Do you ever dream of owning your own land and growing food […]Read More

Northwest Cherries Will Ripen Later This Year Due To Spring Snow

By Lauren Paterson June 7, 2022

Bright yellow Rainier cherries are stacked on top of each other in a huge pile.

Rainier cherries in the Northwest bloomed after the snow, so the crop should be stronger. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Fruit Commission) Listen Snow fell throughout the Northwest in […]Read More

Seeds Of Drought: Weather Conditions Cause Shortages Of Seeds For Spring Forage Planting

By Anna King April 1, 2022

Mason Douglass leans on one of his thirty seed bins at Tri-State Seed outside of Connell, WA Listen Anna King reports on a serious shortage of seeds for forage crops […]Read More

Northwest Farmers Sign On The Dotted Line For Rising Costs, And An Uncertain Future

By Anna King March 31, 2022

A tractor and sprayer work a stubble field spraying Roundup. Killing volunteer wheat and cheatgrass will help save moisture in the soil for next year’s crop / Anna King – […]Read More

Weather impacts WA agriculture in February

By NWPB News March 1, 2022

Wheat at the farm of Nicole Berg in Washington's Horse Heaven Hills shows signs of a drought so far in 2021, with a damaged curled head.

Wet weather and varying temperatures had impacts on Washington farming in February Listen Read By Brandon Hollingsworth For Washington’s agricultural interests, February was marked by wet weather and temperature shifts. […]Read More

Gangs Of Elk Are Feasting On Farmers’ Haystacks Across The Northwest

By Anna King January 29, 2022

Gangs of wild elk are attacking farmers’ haystacks in Washington and Oregon. They’re hungry, after a long drought and record mountain snow this winter has driven animals down to the lowlands. Climate scientists say things may only get worse in the future.Read More

Classical Music Venues With Non-Classical Histories: Trillium Woods Farm

By Gigi Yellen July 30, 2021

Who needs a concert hall when there’s a barn nearby? Or a brewery? Or an old electric power plant? The Northwest is home to some classical music venues with decidedly non-classical histories. This is the story of Trillium Woods Farm, home of Concerts in the Barn.Read More

Western Ranchers Are Cuttin’ Herds Like Mad To Prep For A Winter With Short Hay

By Anna King July 20, 2021

Cut hay laying in rows drying in the sun with a farm sprinkler in background.

From Oregon to the Dakotas, hay stocks for hungry cattle are already low. On top of that, ranchers say summer pastures are dry from the widespread drought.Read More

Berry Bake: Northwest Blueberry, Raspberry, Blackberry Crops Might Be Roasted From The Heat Wave

By Anna King July 2, 2021

Blackberries and raspberries in Oregon sustained mass damage from the heat dome event of earlier this week. Growers say they won’t be sure of all the damage until next year’s crop comes on. Courtesy of Oregon Blackberry Raspberry Commission

Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries from Oregon to Washington to British Columbia are baked on the bush and vine. Growers are calling the heat damage widespread and catastrophic. Read More

Weird Potatoes, Bad Berries, Hazardous Human Conditions: Heat Takes Its Toll On Northwest Farming

By Anna King June 29, 2021

Alan Schreiber inspects his broken irrigation pump. It's only working at 30 percent capacity in 117 heat. CREDIT: Anna King/N3

Record heat across the Northwest is taking a toll on agriculture – both the crops and the workers who harvest them. Read More

High Heat Brings High Worry About Crops, As Farmers Were Already Dealing With Drought

By Anna King June 23, 2021

Northwest farmers are pouring on the water to moisten soils ahead of the triple-digit temperatures and possible record highs expected this weekend. Read More

Major Swath Of Easterday Land In Southeast Washington Goes For Nearly $210 Million At Auction

By Anna King June 18, 2021

Verdant fields dot the basalt benches above the Columbia River near Goose Gap Farm, an Easterday property that's about to be auctioned off in a bankruptcy stemming from a swindle of 225,000 cattle.

The agricultural arm of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints — Farmland Reserve, Inc. — has agreed to pay about $210 million for a major swath of southeastern Washington farm ground.Read More

CATTLEGATE: 2 Land Titans Vie For Massive Swath Of Easterday Property In Southeast Washington

By Anna King June 9, 2021

Goose Gap Farm is one of several large swaths of farmland that are up for sale in a major auction in the bankruptcy of Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches. CREDIT: Anna King/N3

Nearly 12,000 acres of Easterday family farmland in Benton County will likely sell for more than its $210 million asking price, according to court documents and sources with knowledge of the deal.Read More

‘Somber Harvest’: Crops May Fail, Cattle Sold As The Northwest Descends Into Drought

By Anna King May 27, 2021

Some stunted wheat fields won’t see the combine this summer. Cattle operators are severely cutting back their herds for lack of grass. Little moisture since February in wide swaths of the Northwest is to blame. And drought is deepening across the West, with federal drought maps showing massive and growing areas of red.Read More

As Easterday Family Property Is Auctioned, Big-Time Buyers Attracted To Water-Rich Deal

By Anna King May 6, 2021

Easterday Ranches and Easterday Farms has provided beef, potatoes, onions and produce to dinner tables for more than three generations. Now in bankruptcy, many of the family’s key properties will be sold to repay debts. It’s one of the largest sales of prime water-rich agricultural lands in the Columbia Basin in recent history. Read More

Northwest Snowpack Is Good, But Dry, Cold, Windy Spring Wreaking Havoc With Crops

By Anna King April 15, 2021

Asparagus from Schreiber and Sons Farms in Eltopia, Wash., has seen better days before it was windblown in recent cold, dry, windy weather across the Northwest.

Much of the Northwest’s high country is still deep in good snowpack but short on rain this spring. That has dryland wheat farmers and cattle ranchers fretting. Cold, wind and dust are even wreaking havoc with produce farmers in the region.Read More

Epic Drought Means Water Crisis For Parts Of The West Coast, Though Much Of Northwest Is OK

By NWPB News April 15, 2021

File photo, March 2, 2020: Farmer Ben DuVal with his wife, Erika, and their daughters, Hannah, third from left, and Helena, fourth from left, stand near a canal for collecting run-off water near their property in Tulelake, Calif. Federal officials announced in April 2021 that farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project spanning the Oregon-California border will get 8% of the deliveries they need amid a severe drought. CREDIT: Gillian Flaccus/AP

Hundreds of farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project that spans the Oregon-California border learned Wednesday they will get a tiny fraction of the water they need amid the worst drought in decades, as federal regulators attempt to balance the needs of agriculture against federally threatened and endangered fish species that are central to the heritage of several tribes.Read More

Cut And Fried: Northwest Spud Farmers Take A Deep Hit On Their Contracts

By Anna King March 30, 2021

Farmers in the Columbia Basin are fretting over a lower price for their big contracts with potato processing giants in the Northwest.

Farmers say they’ve already taken a hit from the pandemic and higher fertilizer costs. Now they are going to get 3% less for their potatoes from Lamb Weston, McCain Foods and J.R. Simplot Company. Read More

Farmers Got Big Government Pandemic Relief In 2020, Even Those Who Didn’t Need It

By NPR News December 31, 2020

The aid, delivered in two separate packages over the course of the year, went to a wide variety of people in agriculture, including corn and soybean farmers, cattle ranchers, and fruit and vegetable producers. The $46 billion in direct government payments to farmers in 2020 broke the previous annual record by about $10 billion, even after accounting for inflation.Read More

Farmers Are Warming Up To The Fight Against Climate Change

By NPR News November 20, 2020

Del Ficke, a farmer in Pleasant Dale, Neb., has embraced the cause of building carbon-rich soil, capturing carbon dioxide from the air in the process. CREDIT: Dan Charles/NPR

Several big farm groups, traditionally hostile to environmental regulations, are now working with environmental advocates in support of farmer-friendly actions to reduce carbon emissions. Read More

How Absentee Landowners Keep Farmers From Protecting Water And Soil

By NPR News July 14, 2020

Prairie strips in fields of corn or soybeans can protect the soil and allow wildlife to flourish. This strip was established in a field near Traer, Iowa, in 2015. Omar de Kok-Mercado, Iowa State University

Cover crops are a vegetation that farmers can plant in the off-season to protect and enrich the soil. It's great for the environment — and in the long run, for crops, too — but it costs money upfront. Farmers who rent land, and who may not have access to that land in the long run, are reluctant to spend that money.Read More

Shipping Woes, Weather Foes Mean Higher Prices And Smiles For Northwest Asparagus Farmers

By Anna King May 8, 2020

For the last decade, the Northwest asparagus industry has been challenged by lower-cost imports, labor shortages and increased farming costs. But this year, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the foreign asparagus supply, increasing sales for the Northwest’s crop. Read More

COVID-19 Considerations Sprout Confusion, Uncertainty To Northwest Family Farms

By NWPB News April 30, 2020

Liepold Farms in Boring, Ore., on Friday, April 3, 2020.

Across the Northwest, small and mid-sized farms are grappling with a range of challenges brought about by coronavirus.Read More

Immigrant Farmworkers Face Unique Challenges As Coronavirus Continues To Spread

By Monica Samayoa April 12, 2020

Migrant farmer Martin Zavala-Martinez prunes a pear tree at Avalon Orchards in Parkdale, Ore., Thursday, April 2, 2020. People needing H-2A work visas are facing delays at the U.S.-Mexico border due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

One of the most vulnerable groups currently working through the coronavirus pandemic is made up of immigrant farmworkers. As this population works through some of the unique challenges they face due to the coronavirus, one Tri-Cities radio station is trying to help.Read More

White House Seeks To Lower Foreign Guest Farmworker Pay To Help U.S. Farm Owners

By NPR News April 10, 2020

Farmworkers work at a winery in Clarksburg, Calif., on March 24. Farms continue to operate as essential businesses even as the coronavirus has hurt the agriculture industry. CREDIT: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is working with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to see how wage rates for immigrant farmworkers can be reduced. Critics say it will hurt all workers.Read More

Water, Water (Most) Everywhere, As Northwest Snowpack Is Good. But Some Areas Are Low

By Courtney Flatt April 10, 2020

A snow-machine rider takes a snowpack reading as part of Community Snow Observations, a NASA-sponsored citizen science project. CREDIT: Oregon State University/Flickr

For much of the Northwest, snowpack is above normal. That’s a good sign this time of year, when snowpack usually reaches its peak. Having enough snowpack is critical for spring and summer runoff that will supply water for irrigation and salmon runs. But that doesn’t mean everywhere has that much snow.Read More

Tale Of Two Crops: Pandemic Yields Different Realities For Northwest Potato And Apple Growers

By Anna King April 7, 2020

Potatoes scoot by on fast belts at Balcom & Moe in Pasco. The potatoes get a rinse, are sized and then put in bags destined for America’s supermarkets. The potato farmer and packer-shipper has been in business since the 1920’s. CREDIT: ANNA KING/NW NEWS NETWORK

The coronavirus pandemic continues to make its presence known in all facets of daily life, including agriculture. That extends to some supply and demand economics lessons for Northwest apple and potato growers.Read More

Stumbling Toward Spring: Northwest Growers Scramble To Start During Coronavirus Crisis

By Anna King April 3, 2020

Freshly planted furrows span out across the Columbia Basin as farmers get ready for the coming season as worries of COVID-19 spread in central and eastern Washington.

Spring work starts up, ready or not. And Northwest growers are scrambling to figure out how to work around the global coronavirus pandemic and still bring in the coming harvest. Read More

Washington Lawmakers Stop Short Of Banning Pesticide Linked To Neurological Problems

By Courtney Flatt March 14, 2020

File photo. A sign at the property of Eric and Mari Perez in Qunicy, Washington, where houses are surrounded by apple orchards. Some people don't want the pesticide chlorpyrifos drifting from orchards to their property. CREDIT: Megan Farmer/KUOW

Washington regulators must soon consider rules to limit the use of a controversial pesticide that can cause neurological and health problems, especially in young children. A bill passed by state lawmakers this session didn’t outright ban the pesticide, as health and farmworker activists had proposed. Read More

Climate Stewardship Connects Eastern Washington Faith And Farming To Legislative Action In Olympia

By Courtney Flatt March 5, 2020

Church members at Richland’s Shalom United Church of Christ sing environmental hymns during a service on Feb. 9, 2020, that addressed environmental issues, such as climate change. CREDIT: Courtney Flatt/NWPB

Climate change isn’t a new topic for progressive churches like Shalom United Church of Christ in Richland. But it is perhaps tinged with new urgency. Survey results from the Pew Research Center show that congregations are delving into environmental awareness recently. And so are farmers.Read More

An Airbnb For Cropland Hits A Snag, As Farmers Raise Data Privacy Concerns

By NPR News February 24, 2020

A mix of barley, peas and flax grows in a field at Casey Bailey's farm near Fort Benton, Mont. Bailey sells this crop to Montana dairy farmer Nate Brown, who has been feeding it to his goats.

American farmers spend about $32 billion each year to rent land, and Tillable CEO Corbett Kull thinks his company could be farmland's AirBnB or Zillow. "This is one of the beauties of digital marketplaces, where you can bring two parties together that otherwise might never meet," he says.Read More

In Washington’s Skagit Valley, Elk Raise Tensions Between Tribal Members And Farmers

By Eilís O'Neill January 28, 2020

Elk graze in Skagit Valley, populated for centuries by Native Americans and, more recently, by farmers. CREDIT: Megan Farmer/KUOW

In Washington Skagit Valley, a conflict is unfolding between the Upper Skagit Tribe and farmers as elk are making a comeback there. Read More

Labor Shortage And Fall Weather Stack Up To Leave Apples Rotting In Orchards

By Anna King January 15, 2020

Apples remain unpicked in December 2019 in an orchard near Wallula, Washington. CREDIT: Mike Denny

For the love of Johnny Appleseed! Why are so many apples left hanging (and rotting) on trees in Northwest orchards after the fall harvest? Industry experts and growers says it’s a combination of factors – but really not due to tariffs, as some people think.Read More

In 2019 Farmers Got $22 Billion In Federal Subsidies — Mostly Without Congressional Approval

By NPR News January 2, 2020

A farmer operates a combine to harvest soybeans in Wyanet, Ill. Farmers got more than $22 billion in government payments in 2019. It's the highest level of farm subsidies in 14 years. CREDIT: Bloomberg via Getty Images

In 2019, the federal government delivered an extraordinary financial aid package to America's farmers. Farm subsidies jumped to their highest level in fourteen years, most of them paid out without any action by Congress.Read More

Shockingly Chewable: Farmers Are Using Food Waste To Make Electricity

By NPR News November 30, 2019

Peter Melnik, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, owns Bar-Way Farm, Inc. in Deerfield, Mass. He has an anaerobic digester on his farm that converts food waste into renewable energy. CREDIT: Allison Aubrey/NPR

Dairy farmers in Massachusetts are using food waste to create renewable energy. Each farm produces enough to power about 1,500 homes. This helps prevent the release of methane, a greenhouse gas.Read More

Like Your Hummus Wet? Then You Want Dry Beans. So Do Palouse Farmers Who Grow Garbanzos

By Anna King November 14, 2019

Kyle Hinrichs helps run the family business outside of Pullman, Wash. Right now the company is drying beans as fast as possible with several machines, but it’s an around the clock job. CREDIT: Anna King/N3

Heavy rains and even an early fall snow in October matted down the garbanzo bean plants tight to the land. That means Palouse-region farmers are scrambling to dry out beans to get them to silos and co-ops. It's on top of already depressed prices due to international trade wars.Read More

Farm Bankruptcies On The Rise Nationally, Most Pronounced For Northwest Families

By NWPB News November 5, 2019

A tractor plows soil where a failed wheat crop once stood on Matt Isgar's ranch and farm in Hesperus, Colo. Isgar is hoping the soil will get enough moisture in coming months so he can plant pinto beans next season. CREDIT: Kami Engstrom/Courtesy of Matt Isgar

The number of family farms seeking bankruptcy protection grew 24% over the last year, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation analysis of recent federal court data. The analysis found family farm bankruptcies are rising fastest in the Northwest.Read More

Diversifying Crops Is Good For The Planet. But Can It Be Good For Farmers’ Wallets?

By NPR News October 23, 2019

Fertilizer runoff is fueling the toxic algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers could help by growing crops in rotation to reduce the need for fertilizer. But it's unclear who will buy them.Read More

‘You Have To Remain An Optimist.’ Northwest Farmers Wrap Wheat Harvest As Prices Depress

By Anna King August 20, 2019

Roger Hsieh and Daniel Berg walk toward a pickup truck in the Horse Heave Hills of south central Washington during wheat harvest this year. CREDIT: NICOLE BERG

Right now, Northwest wheat farmers are wrapping up their harvest in many areas. But across the country, farmers are losing money on every load of that golden grain. Read More

If We All Ate Enough Fruits And Vegetables, There’d Be Big Shortages

By NPR News July 18, 2019

If everyone around the globe began to eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, there wouldn't be enough to go around. That's the conclusion of a new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health.Read More

Willapa Bay Oyster Farmers Struggle As Shrimp Population Booms

By Molly Solomon June 18, 2019

Kathleen Nisbet Moncy is a second generation oyster farmer. Her family has been farming in Willapa Bay for the past four decades. CREDIT: KAYLEE DOMZALSKI/OPB

Of the 70,000 acres of mudflats in Willapa Bay, less than 10,000 acres are used for shellfish cultivation. Researchers estimate about a quarter of that farmable land has already been taken over by burrowing shrimp. But the battle over land between shellfish growers and the shrimp is not entirely new. Read More

Organic Farming Has A Plastic Problem. One Solution Is Controversial

By NPR News June 7, 2019

Lettuce sprouts amid rows of plastic covering the ground at One Straw Farm, an organic operation north of Baltimore. Although conventional farmers also use plastic mulch, organic produce farms like One Straw rely on the material even more because they must avoid chemical weed killers, which are banned in organic farming. CREDIT: LISA ELAINE HELD/NPR

Plastic is under attack these days for the environmental problems it causes. But sustainability-minded shoppers might not be aware that many organic farmers — like their conventional farming neighbors — also rely on plastic. It's spread over the ground as a form of mulch to suppress weeds, conserve water and aid plant growth.Read More

Critics Say USDA Plan To Move Agricultural Agencies Could Hurt Research Vital For Farmers

By NPR News May 18, 2019

File photo. Ripe ears of wheat lit by the morning sunlight. CREDIT: WSU News

A couple of federal agencies you probably haven't heard of keep track of what farmers grow, what Americans eat and how the country's entire food system operates. And the Trump administration wants them out of Washington, D.C.Read More