Agriculture

An odd thing has happened in wheat country — a lot of farmers aren't planting wheat. Thanks to a global grain glut that has caused prices and profits to plunge, this year farmers planted the fewest acres of wheat since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began keeping records nearly a century ago.Instead of planting the crop that gave the wheat belt its identity, many farmers are opting this year for crops that might be less iconic but are suddenly in demand, such as chickpeas and lentils, used in hummus and healthy snacks."People have gone crazy with chickpeas. [node:read-more:link]

Drones, milking robots, driverless vehicles, intelligent sensors, bio-surveillance, data-sharing – the Swiss economics ministry is calling for farmers to embrace a “digital revolution”, marking a turning point in agricultural practices that is not without risk. [node:read-more:link]

With a presidential administration that continues to call for immigration reform and secured borders, local farmers say any solution should consider the potential effects on the agriculture industry’s workforce.  “Americans don’t want to do a lot of the things farmers need done,” said Marty Yahner, of Patton, who owns a sixth-generation farm with his brother, Rick, that produces corn, oats, wheat, hay and soybeans. [node:read-more:link]

The bankruptcy of a Washington hop merchant may signal renewed turbulence in the hops market, with lower-than-expected demand for the crop raising oversupply concerns. 47 Hops of Yakima, Wash., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which shields the company from creditors while it develops a restructuring plan to repay debts and remain operational.The hop broker has more than $7.4 million in debt and $4.3 million in assets, according to the filing. In 2016, the company earned $10.6 million in revenues, up from $7.1 million the previous year. [node:read-more:link]

A Yakima County Superior Court judge has given preliminary approval for a $600,000 settlement for a group of dairy workers at a Lower Valley dairy.Jose Martinez-Cuevas and Patricia Aguilar, on behalf of the group of nearly 300 workers, filed a class-action lawsuit against the DeRuyter Brothers Dairy of Outlook in December claiming the company failed to provide adequate meal and rest breaks and that workers were not paid for all time worked.They said they worked at the 5,000-herd dairy nine to 12 hours a day, six days a week without rest breaks, meal periods or overtime pay. [node:read-more:link]

Losses to Texas’ $100 billion agriculture industry had not even begun to be tallied Tuesday, with farmers and ranchers still unable to get out to find stranded livestock or survey how many acres of grain, rice and cotton was destroyed by Harvey’s once-in-a-millennium downpours. Texas A&M University agricultural economist David Anderson said it was too soon to even ballpark the monetary extent of the damages.“I haven’t even tried,” he said. [node:read-more:link]

A review paper draws on scientific studies to recommend ways to reduce honeybee disease impacts, such as limiting the mixing of bees between colonies and supporting natural bee behaviors that provide disease resistance. The paper draws on scientific studies to recommend ways to reduce disease impacts, such as limiting the mixing of bees between colonies and supporting natural bee behaviors that provide disease resistance. The paper also highlights honeybee management practices in need of more research. [node:read-more:link]

Researchers unravel the negative effects of pesticide exposure on birth outcomes, such as weight, gestation and abnormalities.  A new study by researchers at UC Santa Barbara addresses the issue in a novel way — by analyzing birth outcomes in California’s San Joaquin Valley.With more than one-third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts produced there, the San Joaquin Valley, not surprisingly, is a heavy pesticide-use region. [node:read-more:link]

Since 2008, per acre property taxes in Illinois have increased substantially. These increases lower returns to farmland owners and magnify the losses associated with lowering cash rents. If per acre property taxes have reached a permanently higher level, equilibrium farmland values should be expected to adjust downward. Per acre property taxes in Illinois increased in recent years, as is illustrated in Figure 1 for high-productivity farmland in central Illinois. Between 2008 and 2016, property taxes increased at a rapid rate, increasing from $24 per acre in 2008 to $53 per acre in 2016. [node:read-more:link]

An Austin television station shows flooding in La Grange, Texas, which is about 100 miles west of Houston. Residents there pitched in to help some businesses evacuate before the waters rose. [node:read-more:link]