cattle

Washington and Oregon dairy farmers say they’re stressed out – the threat of bird flu in cattle is just adding to their woes.

Nearly two decades ago on December 23rd, a lone holstein cow “stole Christmas.” The milk cow from Canada had been shipped to Washington state in Mabton. It was the first mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), case discovered in the United States.

Across the Northwest crops are late. Cool spring weather has held back asparagus, potatoes and alfalfa. Even tree fruit blooms were late to flush open. Then, record-warm weather hit.

During spring’s prime calving season, lots of newborn calves have been dying from the cold.

There was a major drought last year that shortened crop seed supply. Now, a deepening drought this spring paired with a dearth of forage for cattle, is causing a Western-wide run on crop seed. Meanwhile, hay is in short supply. And Northwest cattle operators are surveying their empty, dried-up watering holes, calculating how much grass they’ll have this spring.

One of the historically largest farm equipment sales in the country is happening this week in the Northwest. It follows the bankruptcy of the Easterday family empire after its multi-million-dollar cattle swindle.

Nicole Berg wades into her stunted wheat field. It’s so short and sparse, she doesn’t think the combine can even reach the wheat without eating rocks.…

You can drive an hour on the highway and still be in central Oregon’s Crook County. Perhaps, then, it’s easier to understand why patrolling the vast…

Updated Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, 5 p.m. PTThe Easterday family spread unfurls across the Columbia Basin — yawning onion farms, massive potato sheds, huge…

With at least two dozen Oregon dairies threatened by raging wildfires, farmers are grappling with the delicate task of moving them to safer ground — or…