Our Organic Northwest

Cool Spring Impacts Northwest Farmers

ELTOPIA, Wash. – Across the Northwest farmers markets are starting up for the season. But produce pickings have been Spartan. Farmers say a cool spring has delayed growth and even killed some crops. [Correspondent Anna King reports from a farm in Eltopia [ell-TOE-pia] in southcentral Washington.]

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Oregon Ranchers On Edge After Wolf Kills Calf

(Photo of wolf collared  in Oregon from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) 

Oregon ranchers are keeping a close eye on their herds. They learned this week that a wolf killed a cow calf in the northeastern corner of the state. It's the first wolf attack on livestock in that area. [Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick says] Ranchers fear it won't be the last.

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Wheat Growers Plan Ahead for Columbia Closure

Northwest wheat growers opened their annual meeting today facing a tough economic market. But at the Oregon-Idaho Grains Conference, the real worry is about a year from now when the Columbia locks system will close for maintenance.

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Tree Farmers May Profit From Climate Regulation

(Photo: Small woodland owner Ken Falk hopes to sell carbon offsets tied to these trees in Monroe, Oregon.)

MONROE, OR - Some airlines are starting to do it. Some Northwest ski resorts, too. They’re inviting people like you to pay a little bit extra to offset the global warming pollution resulting from an activity such as a trip. A carbon offset is a bit like an indulgence... a polluter pays someone else to remove an equivalent amount of global warming gases from the atmosphere. In our region, private timberland owners, farmers, and some tribal governments are dreaming dollar signs.

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UI Agriculture Funding Plan Deadline Looming

MOSCOW, ID - The University of Idaho says early November is the deadline to have a funding plan in place for its agriculture and extension services. The problem facing the UI and the agriculture industry in the state is the $4.7 million cut in the university’s agricultural research and extension budget, stemming from two state budget cuts. The proposed closure of research centers in the state, including one at Parma, raised alarms earlier this year.

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Northwest Apple Harvest is Underway

In Northwest farm country, apple harvest is in full swing. Huge trucks loaded down with fruit can be seen on the highways headed for market. Farmers say they expect to haul in about the same amount of fruit this year as usual, but the apples will be larger than last year. Richland Correspondent Anna King reports.

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This Year’s Northwest Cherry Harvest Could Set Records

(Flickr photograph by jen maiser)

Cherry farmers across the Northwest are probably going to churn out a record crop this summer. That’s as long as it doesn’t rain as Richland Correspondent Anna King explains.

In the next month Northwest cherry farmers could make millions, or lose their entire crop. It all depends on Mother Nature. If it gets too hot, cherries ripen cherries faster than workers can pick. Even a small amount of rain can get absorbed into the cherry’s tender flesh and split the fruit. (Full Story)

New Pesticide Restrictions

November 20, 2008, Kennewick, WA

Farmers worry that new restrictions on the pesticides Chlorpyrifos, Malathion, and Diazinon will hinder their productivity. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is recommending the restrictions in order to protect salmon populations. Northwest Public Radio's Anna King reports.

Northwest Regional Office of NMFS

Northwest Fisheries Science Center

KWSU Media Presents: Plant Breeding

				Episode 114
	3:11 min.
	Kim Kidwell
	Professor, Crop & Soil Sciences, WSU
	Most people don’t understand Dr. Kidwell’s profession even though they are familiar with the results. As a plant breeder, she is responsible for improving the quality of crops that people eat every day. By looking at the genes inside of wheat, she uses modern technology to help support the oldest industry in the country. The next time you notice a wheat field while driving in Washington, odds are that Dr. Kidwell has had a hand in making it grow Watch additional videos at KWSU Media .

NW Farmers Growing More Wheat in Response to High Prices

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Northwest farmers are expected to harvest a half million more acres of wheat this year than last. They’re hoping for continued record high prices brought on by a world-wide shortage of the grain. 

The global wheat shortage is a classic supply and demand story. The demand: India and China’s growing economies mean more people there can afford to gobble up increasing amounts of grain and meat. The supply shortage: A nearly decade-long drought in Australia. And in the U.S., high demand for bio-fuel has pushed food crops aside. It’s all contributed to a wheat boom in the Pacific Northwest. Jeffrey LaFrance, is a professor of economics at Washington State University. He says with more farmers growing wheat, less corn, barley, beans and hay will be harvested. But that’s not necessarily bad news.

Anna King reports.