Western Farm Press News Archive

Farmer and rancher committee nominations

Sep 14, 2009

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Jonathan Coppess announced that nominations for individuals to serve on the Advisory Committee for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers are being accepted through Oct. 5, 2009....

Nobel Laureate Norman E. Borlaug dies

Sep 14, 2009

Norman E. Borlaug, who received the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for developing high-yielding and disease-resistant wheat used to prevent famine in developing countries throughout the world, has died....

Ground water challenges for almonds

Sep 14, 2009,

By Gabriele Ludwig, Associate Director, Environmental Affairs, Almond Board of California

Ground water is destined to be the subject of increased regulation in coming years as agencies in California look to address the quality of water in underground aquifers....

Media reproved over H1N1 Influenza Virus

Sep 11, 2009,

By Dale Miller, Editor, National Hog Farmer

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack held a press conference Sept. 10, with the intended purpose of explaining the USDA’s preparedness to handle the potential onset H1N1 Influenza this fall....

Selected honey bees fight mites

Sep 11, 2009

Honey bees are now fighting back aggressively against Varroa mites, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) efforts to develop bees with a genetic trait that allows them to more easily find the mites and toss them out of the broodnest....

NLGMA hearings seek public input

Sep 10, 2009,

By Cary Blake, Farm Press Editorial Staff

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will conduct seven listening sessions over the next six weeks to garner public input on the agency’s proposed National Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (NLGMA)....

New food safety consumer Web site

Sep 10, 2009

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the co-chairs of the Obama administration's Food Safety Working Group, unveiled a new consumer Web site at www.foodsafety.gov. ...

California rice grower testifies on climate bill

Sep 10, 2009

Frank Rehermann, chairman of the USA Rice Producers’ Group and a California rice producer, told the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry this morning that the House climate-change bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), would threaten U.S. rice producers’ economic viability....

Fresno State viticulture leader retires

Sep 10, 2009

Robert L. Wample, whose nine years at the helm of its viticulture and enology research programs helped vault California State University, Fresno to global agricultural education prominence, is retiring. ...