One of the Magic Valley's biggest employers is giving its employees a paid half-day off to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 3. 

Now that the Sept. 11 USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report is history, the trade is turning its attention to the fall harvest.

An employee of Amalgamated Sugar in the Twin Falls region has died from COVID-19, according to the South Central Public Health District.

"Why fall cover crops?” asks Dan Smith, southwest regional specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Department of Horticulture and with UW-Division of Extension.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s import and export trade data for July 2020 provides important insight into the continuing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on U.S. agricultural trade.

OPINION  Farmers are no strangers to crisis but this year the crises keep piling up. Most of us are immobilized in our homes and on our farms, dread-filled and agitated. Others go to work in novel conditions, often at risk of becoming sick. Our democracy is stagnant with a legislature that has largely failed to act in the interest of the people it’s supposed to serve. We’ve seen Midwesterners shot and killed in public and national uprisings to stop racial violence. The world is becoming hotter and more chaotic.

OPINION  Following the virtual G-20 Agriculture and Water Ministers Meeting hosted Sept. 12 by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, agricultural officials from five Western Hemisphere countries – Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and the United States – issued the following statement underscoring the importance of maintaining agricultural trade flows during the COVID-19 pandemic. They emphasized their commitment to remaining reliable suppliers of food and agricultural products to the world.

Vertical farming – the practice of growing crops indoors in controlled conditions – is continuing to expand. Investors and entrepreneurs are excited about the potential of vertical farming to revolutionize the global food system. Plenty is a San Francisco-based start-up. It has raised $401 million in funding with backers such as SoftBank, Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Other U.S. start-ups AeroFarms and Bowery Farming have raised $238 million and $167.5 million, respectively.

Opportunities and barriers for Wisconsin dairy exports were the focus of a recent AgTalks town hall. A growing middle class in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa provides opportunities for Wisconsin dairy exports. At the same time there are barriers such as geographical indications and trade agreements, said panelists representing the dairy industry. Thomas Vilsack, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and currently president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, moderated the panel discussion.

With more and more people heading into the backcountry this summer to play because other forms of entertainment have been cutoff, outdoor newbies have been “rescuing” livestock guard dogs and dropping them off at animal shelters.

Idaho ranked No. 1 among the 11 Western states in 2019 in farm income on a per capita basis.

Total net farm income in the United States is forecast to increase by 23 percent in 2020 despite a small decrease in total farm cash receipts.

Five finalists recently were selected for the 2020 Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award.

Faced with an extended period of depressed commodity prices growers are looking for other cropping options. The University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension has launched a new podcast series to provide growers research-based information on new and alternative crops.

Success with automatic calf feeders relies on many components – one of the most critical is nutrition. Planning one’s nutrition program will help maximize investment for the long haul. Here are four steps to build a dairy-calf nutrition plan for automatic calf feeders.