Agriculture
America’s farmers are getting older, and young people aren’t rushing to join them
Hardworking American farmers keep the world fed and clothed. But the farming labor force has a problem: It’s aging rapidly. The average American farmer is 57 and a half years old, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s up sharply from 1978, when the figure…
Read MoreAt Duncan Livestock and Hay, energy upgrades create a more sustainable farm
Water is a precious commodity in drought-stricken southern Oregon. In Klamath County, a rural area known for its natural beauty, farming culture and outdoor recreation, local producers are having to make tough choices as they navigate dwindling resources. For ranchers Cameron and Garrett Duncan, the solution is personal. They are…
Read MoreOregon’s Commercial Fishing in 2022
Oregon’s commercial fishing industry revenues dropped 41% to $231 million in 2022, mostly due to a delayed Dungeness crab harvest. It was the worst crab year since 2015. Total commercial fishing harvests averaged about $192 million (2022 dollars) over the previous five years. But after a bumper year in 2021,…
Read MoreLawmakers want no new water rights permits issued until the state audits Oregon’s water resources
Oregon’s water basins are being overdrawn year after year, and a strategy to protect them for future generations is desperately overdue, according to two lawmakers. State Reps. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, and Mark Owens, R-Crane, say the Oregon Water Resources Department needs to stop issuing new water rights until it can…
Read MoreIs Valley View Winery For Sale?
Last month we featured the social post of Valley View Winery celebrating 50 years of business and proclaiming they will never be for sale. A cool story about family farms that live on for generations. A few days later someone sent me a listing on LoopNet for 1140 Upper Applegate…
Read MoreSouthern Oregon’s Premier Winery – Established first in the 1850’s, Valley View Winery celebrates 50 years
Fifty years ago, when our parents founded Valley View Winery, people said they were crazy and it would never last. Forty years ago, when our father died, they said Valley View would certainly fail now. We have heard for years that the Southern Oregon wine industry was just a novelty,…
Read MoreRogue Creamery’s Rogue River Blue served in White House State Dinner
BREAKING MOOS: We are over the moon that Rogue River Blue has been selected for tonight’s White House State Dinner honoring visiting French President Emmanuel Macron!!! It will be the key element on a cheese course served to President Biden, the First Lady, visiting French President Emmanuel Macron, his…
Read MoreTask Force Busts Black-Market Marijuana Grow; Destroys 16k Plants; Watermasters Discover One Million Gallons Water Used Illegally, Code Enforcement Issues $180k Fine
IMET Case 22-7347 Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team (IMET) detectives served a search warrant on a marijuana grow site near the 9000 block of Hillcrest Road east of Medford. The property contained approximately 16,827 illegal cannabis plants in 87 “hoop-style” greenhouses, taking up 5 1/2 acres of the property. Jackson County…
Read MoreFrom up top to the tap: Alaska Airlines pulls off ultimate beer run in multiple states
This fall, Alaska Air Cargo delivered the industry’s first and biggest fresh hops run to breweries in Maui and Anchorage within 24 hours of harvest – this was a huge logistical hop-eration that brought a favorite seasonal beer beyond the Pacific Northwest. Made from fresh-plucked, undried hops that are typically…
Read MoreHazelnut Growers of Oregon Awarded SQF Level 3 Fourth Year in a Row at Its State-of-the-art Processing Facility
New HGO President Gerry Watts said the hazelnut cooperative is poised for continued growth and innovation. Continued SQF3 recertification is a beacon of quality assurance in a current climate of food safety uncertainty. Hazelnut Growers of Oregon (HGO), a business unit of farmer-owned cooperative Wilco Hazelnut LLC, has received a SQF (Safe Quality Food)…
Read MoreTillamook County Creamery Association Announces Expanded Partnership With Dot Foods
Extra creamy, premium Tillamook® Ice Cream is now available for ice cream lovers to enjoy at restaurants and scoop shops from coast to coast. The exclusive partnership with Dot Foods unlocks the potential for Tillamook Ice Cream to be accessible via Dot’s network of customers, including more than 5,200 distributors in all 50 states. Packaged…
Read MoreWillamette Valley Vineyards Posts a Profit for 2021
SALEM, Ore., March 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc. (NASDAQ: WVVI) (the “Company”), a leading Oregon producer of Pinot Noir, generated income per common share after preferred dividends of $0.20 and $0.46 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, a decrease of $0.26, or 56.6%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 over the prior year period. The Company had…
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