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climate change

  • The impacts from the Smokehouse Fire on farmers and ranchers in Oklahoma and Texas, a new website offers help with livestock and pasture management for small acreage landowners, the Four Corners Region remains abnormally dry, and a recent study finds the pesticide chlormequat in an overwhelming majority of oat-based products.
  • Cattle prices reach a record high, falling water levels in the Ogallala Aquifer create uncertainty for farmers and municipalities, and a strong El Nino weather pattern has kept winter temperatures warmer this year.
  • A group of senators is encouraging consideration of a farm bill that provides support for projects that address drought, the Colorado Master Irrigator Program kicks off on January 18th, cattle markets are starting 2024 in a much better position than they were a year ago, and meteorologists predict that we’ve likely reached the peak of the El Nino weather pattern this winter.
  • Recent winter storms bring much-needed moisture to the Four Corners, environmental data show that December 2023 was the warmest December on record, and the ag economy was down in 2023 compared to 2022 (the worst since 2013) which could indicate the ag economy is heading into another farm debt crisis.
  • Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land has been a popular target for state legislators his year, growing seasons are slowly shifting across the United States, agencies will collaborate to manage the reintroduction of gray wolves on Colorado’s Western Slope, and John Deere moves toward digitizing self-repair for its customers.
  • Pork producers make an attempt to overturn Proposition 12 in California, the U.S. Global Change Research Program releases it's most recent analysis of current trends in global climate change, and the Rural Mainstreet Index reports some concerning trends for the rural economy.
  • The average length of a growing season in the United States is getting longer, a survey of young farmers finds that 93% have never used a USDA program, beef production is decreasing in 2023, changes to livestock grazing on public lands could be on the way, and Congress acts to ban Chinese ownership of U.S. farm ground.
  • Highly pathogenic avian influenza continues to affect poultry in the U.S., farmers, agriculture groups, and climate advocates ask Congress to do more to address climate change in the next farm bill, Brazil is set to export more corn than the United States in 2023, and ag products with labels stating “Product of the USA", are often misleading.
  • Marijuana sales in Colorado were down in 2022, according to data from the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division. And organizations around the world have a chance to win funding for climate solutions from an Aspen-based nonprofit.
  • Inflation Reduction Act aims at agricultural practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from crop and livestock production, U.S. farm incomes and exports are expected lower than 2021, and a study shows interesting findings about the effects on overall health of people who eat grapes.