Agriculture | The Seattle Times

Agriculture

Read the latest news about Washington state's top crops: apples and pears; wheat and hay; milk and dairy; potatoes and vegetables; cherries, grapes and hops. Topics also include Washington state wines and viticulture, beef cattle and other livestock; aquaculture; international trade in farm commodities; organic foods, pesticides, herbicides and the debate over genetically modified crops (GMO).

China says US soybeans, pork to be exempt from tariff hikes

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese state news agency says U.S. soybeans, pork and some other farm products will be exempt from tariff hikes in a possible goodwill gesture ahead of trade negotiations next month. The official Xinhua News Agency announced the step Friday, citing unidentified official sources, but gave no details. Soybeans are the biggest...

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In this Thursday Aug. 15, 2019 photo, dairy farmer Fred Stone pauses while working in the milking room at his farm in Arundel, Maine. Fred Stone and his wife Laura, whose dairy farm is contaminated by toxic chemicals known collectively as PFAS, so-called “forever chemicals,” have high PFAS levels in their blood. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) MERB201 MERB201

September 11, 2019 at 9:07 pm

Concerns grow over tainted sewage sludge spread on croplands VIEW

LAPEER, Mich. (AP) — For more than 20 years, the eastern Michigan town of Lapeer sent leftover sludge from its sewage treatment plant to area...

September 9, 2019 at 9:53 am

Broken Columbia River barge lock means commerce chokehold

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A critical navigation lock at the mighty Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River has shut down because of cracked concrete, meaning...

Local News

September 5, 2019 at 4:13 am

Cock-a-doodle-doo! French rooster crows over court win

PARIS (AP) — Maurice the rooster can keep crowing, a French court ruled Thursday, as it rejected a complaint from neighbors who sued over noise...

Nation & World

From left, Cora Dutschke, 3, Audrey Brouillette, 3, Darrell Brouillette, 8, and Emily Brouillette, 6, grandchildren of Slidell’s Mary Beth and Doug Meyer, wear intrigued looks as they put their hands on the new world-record grapefruit, before the Meyers were presented with framed certificates from the Guinness Book of World Records by Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, for the seven pound, 14.64 ounce grapefruit that they grew, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019 in a ceremony held at LDAF offices in Baton Rouge, La. The grapefruit was 13.6 ounces (385.6 grams) heavier and 1Â¼ inches (3.2 centimeters) bigger around than the 2006 record, set in Brazil. (Travis Spradling/The Advocate via AP) LABAT102 LABAT102

August 27, 2019 at 12:13 pm

Basketball-sized world-record grapefruit grown in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A basketball-sized grapefruit has brought two world records to a Louisiana couple. The giant citrus grew in the yard of...

August 16, 2019 at 7:24 am

Leader of largest US organic food fraud gets 10-year term

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A judge on Friday sentenced the mastermind of the largest known organic food fraud scheme in U.S. history to 10...

Business

In this photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017, growlers of wine set to be shipped to retail outlets are on display at Wilridge Winery, in Seattle. Wine drinkers are one step closer to being able to purchase and refill their favorite pours in reusable growlers closer to home instead of making a trip to the winery. Some state winemakers are pushing House Bill 1039 as a way to expand wine sales and reduce the carbon footprint of wine bottles. If approved, consumers would be able to bring or buy refillable growlers at any business that has the license to sell wine. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

August 11, 2019 at 9:33 am

Washington’s wine industry adjusts to new wastewater requirements

Last month, the Department of Ecology implemented a new general permit that outlines and monitors the discharge of wastewater by winemaking operations that produce at...

Local News

Pickings from an orange grove in Zolfo Springs, Fla., April 9, 2019. In a decision to approve two antibacterial drugs for orange groves threatened by disease, the EPA largely ignored objections from the CDC and the FDA, which fear that it will spur germs to mutate and become resistant to the drugs, threatening the lives of millions. (Michael Adno/The New York Times) XNYT197 oranges green

August 8, 2019 at 8:40 am

Orange farmers wish you were drinking up their huge crop VIEW

A larger crop has undercut the price of orange juice.

Business

Jake Counne, founder of Backyard Fresh Farms, an indoor vertical farming facility located at The Plant, which houses food and agricultural startups, in Chicago on July 11, 2019. The pilot plant grows lettuce, kale, arugula and and other greens using innovative manufacturing processes designed to make the operation more efficient and profitable. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/TNS) 1384520 1384520

August 8, 2019 at 5:31 am

Many have tried and failed to make vertical indoor farming work. This entrepreneur thinks he can do it.

High costs have killed similar ventures. But a former real-estate investor said he believes his hydroponic farm has the technology to succeed where others have...

Business

July 31, 2019 at 4:54 pm

1 dead after personal boat hits Port Angeles harbor salmon pen

A 20-foot boat hit a fish-farm pen Tuesday night in Port Angeles Harbor, leaving one person dead, according to the Coast Guard. The recreational boat...

Local News

July 30, 2019 at 4:27 am

Trump lashes out at China ‘rip off’ as trade talks resume

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump lashed out at China for what he said is its unwillingness to buy American agricultural products and said it continues...

Business

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