Northwest farmers plant wheat in dust, hope for rain

Anna King — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:43:05 +0000

PROSSER, Wash. – Most of us may be enjoying the fall sunshine, but Northwest wheat farmers are instead wishing for a little rain.

Nicole Berg digs her clean-up-to-now nails into the dry crusty soil on her farm.

About four to five inches down, there still isn’t any hint of past rain.

A few farmers did get some showers. Despite high-tech forecasts, Berg says often knowing when to plant still comes down to a hunch, decades of experience and an old wheat farmer adage.

“On a good year, yes we’d be seeding right now," Berg says.

Drought, wildfires force ranchers to look for efficiencies

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 06:36:00 +0000

The people who raise cattle destined to become steak or hamburger on your dinner plate are feeling the pinch. Wildfires this summer have scorched more than a million acres of Northwest rangeland. In addition, the Midwest drought is driving up feed costs across the board.

Now ranches and feedlots are looking to cut their feed costs in the short term... And longer term, have an eye on making the cattle themselves more efficient.

The cost of feed is by far the biggest expense on the ledgers of most Western beef farmers.