agriculture

From higher costs to export worries, California’s agricultural and wine industries face many possible tariff effects. But some hope for opportunity.

The biggest livestock farms could have been prohibited from building new or bigger facilities in some of Oregon’s most polluted groundwater regions under a state legislative bill environmental groups were backing. But it won’t happen this year.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday slapped 25% across-the-board tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico – our nation’s largest trading partner. Chinese goods entering the U.S. face an additional 10% tariff. That’s got Oregon food and agriculture leaders worried that retaliatory tariffs will hurt Oregon farmers.

President Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on goods coming to the U.S. from Canada and Mexico may have taken a back seat, for now. But many farmers in Oregon are dependent on overseas markets, and concerned about the effects of a trade war.

The last time the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality compiled comprehensive data on nitrate ground pollution in the Lower Umatilla Basin was 2012. More than a decade later, Oregonians have their first fresh look at nitrate levels in the region, and it’s concerning.

Defendants argue that the new state plan means federal courts don’t need to get involved.

“If this pollution was happening in an affluent Portland suburb, it would be stopped,” attorney Steve Berman said.

Researchers found that the world’s most rapidly declining basins are in farm regions, especially drier areas like the San Joaquin Valley. Wells are drying out and land is sinking.

Groups have filed a legal petition to guarantee a minimum amount of water in the distressed river.

When Oregon farmers, farmworkers or ranchers sink into an emotional crisis or simply need someone to talk to, they now have counselors available.

Your holiday food scraps leftover from cooking aren’t garbage. The community composting program of one Rogue Valley entrepreneur is turning that waste into a commodity.

In Oregon, about 10 percent of residents struggle with food insecurity. In the Rogue Valley, one nonprofit has found a unique way to help: a free farmers market, open to all.