A variety of factors could be causing or combining to kill off honeybees at a faster pace this year. Known stressors include nutrition deficiencies, mite infestations, viral diseases and possible pesticide exposure during the previous pollinating season.
Potential impacts to research funding at Washington State University from recent federal directives are being lessened, but university leaders say that projects and programs are still expected to lose millions of dollars.
The agriculture-focused cooperative lending group recently launched the application window for its New Producer Grant program, which provides successful applicants $15,000, as well as educational support and mentoring to support their agricultural ventures.
Nationwide, there have been 70 confirmed human cases since 2024, according to the CDC. Most of these cases have been among farmworkers, who are in daily close contact with poultry and cattle.California has recordedthe most cases, with 38 patients, nearlyall exposed to the virus from dairy herds, followed by Washington state with 11 cases.
This third-generation farmer from Pasco was most recently the National Potato Council’s first vice president and vice president of trade affairs and he also served on the Washington State Potato Commission.
Washington state’s drought status isn’t looking much better after the recent bout of storms, though the drier side of the state is faring better than the west side, state officials say.