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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

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Idaho event to unite growers, school food service directors

School food service directors can't seem to get enough of Corby Garrett's Saturn peaches. Nicknamed donut peaches, they're about an inch thick and 4 inches in diameter, with white flesh -- and they're intensely sweet. Thanks to Idaho's Farm to School program, Garrett Ranches, a 400-acre fruit far ...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 8:27 AM

Aide to Reid says farm bill could come to floor in June

An aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the senator hopes to bring a draft of the 2012 farm bill to the Senate floor next month. "The farm bill is a top priority for Sen. Reid, and he hopes to be able to bring it to the floor in June," Adam Jentleson, Reid's communications director ...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 8:57 AM

Land O'Lakes reduces milk supply through incentives and buyouts

Land O’ Lakes has offered buyouts to some of its California member dairies in an effort to address a “significant increase” in Golden State milk production. “Land O'Lakes offered its members a number of options that were intended to address the situation,” Jean ...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 9:28 AM

Growers prepare for possible record PNW cherry crop

RICHLAND, Wash. — The Pacific Northwest is staring at a possible 20.3-million-box cherry crop. The last time it had a crop in that range — the record 20.4 million boxes in 2009 — the train came off the tracks. About 18 million boxes of that was compressed into 45 days in 2009, clo ...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 8:57 AM

Idaho Falls dairy embraces new neighbors

IDAHO FALLS -- David Sanderlin and his 6-year-old son, Zachary, left the store at Reed's Dairy on a recent Friday afternoon with individual scoops of ice cream and a quart to take home. They finished their treats by the petting zoo, where Zachary likes to watch the goats. Visiting the dairy, loc ...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 10:27 AM

PNW hay stocks high as first cutting starts

The amount of hay, sold and unsold, stored on farms is down 34 percent from a year ago in Washington, up 150 percent in Idaho and about even in Oregon, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The combined May 1 old crop stock of the three states is 1.21 million tons, which is ...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 10:37 AM

Study shows Boise multimodal facility could help farmers

BOISE -- A preliminary study has shown it may be economically feasible to build a multimodal transloading center near Boise that could benefit farm commodities by better facilitating the movement of shipping containers. Agriculture groups welcomed the news because such a facility could redu ...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 9:36 AM

Global dairy surpluses pushing prices downward

Surplus supplies of milk are leading to price softening in the U.S. and international dairy markets, and rising product inventories are expected to keep downward pressure on those markets. International prices are down 20 to 30 percent from their peak in spring 2011, according to the U.S. ...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 9:26 AM

Idaho Potato Commission plans Korean trade office

The Idaho Potato Commission plans to open a satellite office in Seoul, South Korea, by early next year to capitalize on a new trade agreement with the country. A trade mission will be scheduled for late this year or early next year to find a representative to staff the office. Trade agreemen ...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 9:06 AM

Police: Milk spill closes part of US Highway 30

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- State police say the eastbound lane of U.S. Highway 30 was blocked for three hours after a tanker truck overturned and spilled 6,000 gallons of milk. The driver, 43-year-old John Taylor of Hansen, was treated for minor injuries Monday at a Twin Falls hospital. The ...

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 7:26 AM

HBO documentary draws fire from spud industry

National potato industry leaders have taken exception with the four-part HBO documentary "The Weight of the Nation" because of data it includes describing the role of spuds in the mounting U.S. obesity crisis. The series is based on an Institute of Medicine report released May 8 at the Centers fo ...

Monday, May 14, 2012 9:35 AM

Emergency sale of Idaho beans to Mexico falls through

A plan to make an emergency sale of Idaho bean seed to Mexico has fallen through because that country's agriculture department has been unwilling to provide the financial assistance Mexican growers need to make purchases. But Gem State dry bean farmers and dealers believe the contacts made d ...

Monday, May 14, 2012 10:25 AM

Expert warns against wolf 'hysteria', 'sensationalism'

YREKA, Calif. - A retired federal wildlife agent who is perhaps the leading authority on wolves in the West decries the "hysteria" and "sensationalism" over the animal he's seen among livestock producers. Carter Niemeyer, a former trapper who was involved with reintroducing wolves into Yellowston ...

Friday, May 11, 2012 10:36 AM

Encouraged by price, Idaho growers plant more dry beans

Encouraged by higher prices, Idaho growers will plant an estimated 130,000 acres of dry beans this year, significantly more than last season. This year's massive upswing in total bean acreage follows an almost equally big downturn in 2011. Idaho farmers harvested 94,000 acres of dry beans in 20 ...

Friday, May 11, 2012 10:25 AM

Idaho processed growers wary of possible IPC fee increase

Some Idaho processed market spud growers worry a proposed 2.5 cents per hundredweight increase in the Idaho Potato Commission assessment could come at a difficult time. IPC President Frank Muir has been meeting with potato organizations since late last fall to gauge support for an assessment incr ...

Friday, May 11, 2012 8:34 AM

4 of 5 scientists approve of Wyoming's wolf plan

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- Four out of five scientists who reviewed Wyoming's proposed wolf management plan say they believe it's likely to maintain a stable population in the state. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday released its second scientific peer review of Wyoming's wolf plan ...

Friday, May 11, 2012 3:36 PM

Idaho Barley Commission sets budget meeting

The Idaho Barley Commission has scheduled its annual budget and program review meeting on May 23 and 24 in Buhl and Twin Falls. The meeting on May 23 will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Clear Lake Country Club in Buhl. The May 24 meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Hilton ...

Friday, May 11, 2012 10:36 AM

Idaho corn growers ponder need for their own group

During his three decades as an extension educator in east Idaho, every crop Stan Gortsema worked with had a growers' association or state commission that represented farmers and provided money for research. Except one -- corn. Gortsema has joined a growing list of people who think it might be t ...

Thursday, May 10, 2012 10:24 AM

Idaho health system program uses, promotes local foods

MERIDIAN, Idaho -- Tim Sommer has a large new buyer of his fresh herbs and assorted greens. Sommer also appreciates that the new customer, St. Luke's regional health system, will be promoting products from his Purple Sage Farms in Middleton. As part of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture ...

Thursday, May 10, 2012 10:23 AM

Students learn about water, farming at field day

OWYHEE DAM, Ore. -- An annual field day that uses hands-on activities to show hundreds of fifth-graders how important water is to farming, ranching and other activities is funded primarily by farmers in Eastern Oregon. The two-day event at the Owyhee Dam was attended this year by more than 700 st ...