Top Agriculture News

The latest USDA effort to provide support to dairy producers with herds impacted by the H5N1 virus involves an updated version of USDA Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP). “Designed now to provide assistance to dairy producers through incurring milk losses as a result of H5N1.” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack […]

Levels of drought we have not seen in more than a decade. There’s the headline for you. I’m Mike Davis talking with climatologist, Corey Davis, Assistant State Climatologist for North Carolina. Corey, I was taking a look at the Drought Monitor, and I’m seeing colors that do not look good to me, and especially don’t […]

 The honeybee population faces challenges like we all do, but the list appears to be manageable. Brandon Hopkins, a researcher at Washington State University’s Apiary Program, says they break the challenges down into what they call the “4 P’s.” “Poor nutrition, which involves a lot of really big issues around forage, nutrition, and the availability […]

RALEIGH – Although most of the state saw some rainfall in the past week, it was not enough to improve dry conditions, leading the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC) to expand its severe and moderate drought classifications across the state, and introduce the extreme drought classification for part of one county in eastern North Carolina.  DMAC classified part of Columbus County as in extreme drought (D3 classification) in […]

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee is set to mark up a funding bill that could include some good news for farmers and ranchers. John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the bill, which dictates funding for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, includes […]

Quality management of a cow during the dry period is a critical component of any udder health program. Dr. Jennifer Roberts, a professional services veterinarian with Boehringer-Ingelheim, talks about the importance of keeping cows healthy during the dry period and into freshening. “The dry period is a time when cows can be especially susceptible to […]

And now classic comedian WC Fields on the subject of snakes. “All my best friends are snakes, yeah, particularly rattlesnakes. I’ll never forget the time I found a rattlesnake imprisoned under a rock. So I freed him, and with a great look in his eyes, he followed me whole. And just before the little gold […]

The United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2024, was 74.5 million head. That number is up one percent from June 1, 2023, and up slightly from March 1, 2024. The breeding inventory, at 6.01 million head, was three percent lower than last year and slightly lower than the previous quarter. […]

“Obviously all of us are interested in getting a farm bill done.” But Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters the other day he doesn’t think it will get done until… “…such time as all parties are looking at it from a practical point of view.” Vilsack said the House version promises all kinds of programs […]

The first hurricane of 2024 to make landfall on the US mainland, Beryl brought with it the usual impacts associated with such tropical systems as it reached the Central Texas Gulf Coast, impacts such as storm surge. “With some four to five foot storm surge totals occurring in that landfall area, northeastwards to at least […]