Governors urge action on Cuba for ag’s sake. Ag minute for Oct. 22, 2015

Washington, Idaho and California governors support lifting trade restrictions blamed for limiting U.S. food exports to Cuba. Click here for full story.

Ag groups cheer as appeals court puts hold on WOTUS regs. Ag Minute for Oct. 14, 2015

A panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati put the regulations on hold nationwide until the court decides whether it has jurisdiction to consider lawsuits against them. Click here for full story.

No relief in sight for parched West. Ag Minute for July 24, 2015

The West is experiencing low stream flows but the summer dry season is far from over, so drought conditions are expected to become more severe. Click here for full story.

U.S. potato acreage up 1.9 percent, NASS reports. Ag minute for July 01, 2015

Fall potato acres are up in the Northwest and nationwide, according to new numbers from the USDA and United Potato Growers of America. Click here for full story.http://www.capitalpress.com/Nation_World/Nation/20150630/us-potato-acreage-up-nass-reports

Western hay growers face challenges - AgMinute for April 8, 2015

Western hay growers see challenges ahead for this year's crop. Early spring and water concerns in some areas are making the season hard to predict. Click here for the full story

Bird flu strikes third California poultry farm - AgMinute for March 19, 2015

Bird flu has struck a third commercial poultry farm in Central California, according to a report posted Wednesday by the World Organization for Animal Health. Click here for the full story

Firefighting plan aims to protect Western habitat - AgMinute for March 11, 2015

The intent is to protect greater sage grouse habitat while contending with fires that have been especially destructive in the Great Basin region of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California. Click here for the full story

PCN water supply forecasts mixed - AgMinute for January 30, 2015

Irrigation water supplies for Washington and Idaho are shaping up to be adequate overall for the coming growing season. Oregon's outlook is yet uncertain, however, and California is again facing deficits. Click here for the full story

Bird flu hits first U.S. commercial poultry flock - AgMinute for January 27, 2015

Highly pathogenic bird flu has struck a commercial turkey flock in California’s Central Valley, escalating the virus’ threat to the U.S. poultry industry. Click here for the full story

Push for national chicken cage standards stalls - AgMinute for January 9, 2015

California's 2008 Prop 2 mandating more space for egg-laying hens is going into effect but federal hen welfare legislation seems dead. Click here for the full story

Turning up the heat on Prop 2 — AgMinute for Nov. 23, 2012

The Association of California Egg Farmers has filed a lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court to overturn Proposition 2, the 2008 initiative backed by HSUS that sought to free chickens from the cramped, bare-wire cages used by many producers. The egg organization contends the law is unconstitutionally vague.

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Ranches face their own fiscal cliff - Podcast for Nov. 2, 2012

In this podcast, reporters and editors discuss the loss of Williamson Act funding on California's ranches, why farmers who used the H-2A guestworker program may be on the hook for $400 million in back wages, and an editorial on congressional inaction and the importance of the farm bill.

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A legacy reborn - Podcast for Sept. 21, 2012

In this podcast, editors and reporters look at a park in Orange County that is reviving the area’s agricultural legacy, allegations that the Environmental Protection Agency is withholding emails from the public, and Beef Products Incorporated’s case that they were defamed by ABC News’ “pink slime” coverage.

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Podcast: My potato sack runneth over

In this podcast, editors and reporters discuss the 9th Circuit Court's upholding of water contracts in California, a lawsuit over gray-market Japanese tractors, and the United Potato Growers of America's reaction to a big harvest.

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Podcast: The milk must flow

In this podcast, editors and reporters look at dairymen’s reactions to an expected rise in milk production, hot times in California’s future and agriculture’s role in rising income in Idaho.

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Podcast: Fire, runoff and taxes

In this podcast, editors and reporters look at the upcoming federal trial of two ranchers charged with arson on public lands, EPA’s deregulation of runoff on logging roads, and what some rural Californians are calling an illegal tax to fund fire suppression efforts.

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Podcast: Budget cuts are not fair friendly

In this podcast, editors and reporters discuss California’s fair crisis, the Labor Department’s U-turn on child labor regulations, an upcoming court hearing on genetically modified sugar beets, and a new development in a lawsuit challenging an international agreement on the softwood lumber trade.

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Podcast: PETA's dairy fight and timber education

In this podcast, editors and reporters explain why dairymen in California are celebrating a legal victory over the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and how the forestry industry is educating the world about the value of timber production.

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Podcast: Produce promotion, walnut and sugar lawsuits, hog regulations and strawberries

In this podcast, writers and editors at the Capital Press talk about the potential benefits and difficulties of united produce promotion, a lawsuit over claims of the healthfulness of walnuts, a million-dollar business dispute over a sugar refinery, the impact of cold, dry weather on California, declining hog production in the wake of gestation crate bans, and trends in strawberry production.

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Podcast: Prisoners pick apples, slaughterhouse audits and stopping invasive species

The cover story for this week's edition of the Capital Press is on prison inmates recruited to pick apples near Quincy, Wash. Prisoners were bused 300 miles from Forks to pick high-value apple varieties because of the worst labor shortage in a decade, Dan Wheat reports.

Mateusz Perkowski talks about slaughterhouse audits and Grupo Bimbo's court battle for Sara Lee's baked goods division.

Tim Hearden examines a legislative push for increased efforts to stop invasive species at the border and the seasonal forecast for California.

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