The USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) has announced the results of the 2017 Census of Agriculture with new information about U.S farms and ranches and those who operate them, including first-time data about on-farm decision making, down to the county level. “The Census shows new data that can be compared to previous censuses for insightsinto agricultural trends and changes down …

SACRAMENTO, CA – Senate Bill 559 (SB 559), authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger), representing the 14th Senate District in California, and principal co-authored by Senator Andreas Borgeas (R-Fresno), Assembly member Devon Mathis (R-Visalia), Assembly member Dr. Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), and Assembly member Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield), today advanced through the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water by 6 – …

On April 3rd, Western Growers President & CEO Tom Nassif detailed the critical labor shortages facing American agriculture and laid out the case for agricultural immigration reform before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. In his testimony, Nassif stated that experienced workers are aging out of the agricultural workforce with few Americans lining up to take their place, …

American Farmland Trust, the organization behind the national movement No Farms No Food®, was recently awarded a Professional Development Program grant from the Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Administrative Council. The grant will support AFT in expanding its existing work scaling up the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farmers by demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits realized …

Having succeeded in protecting funding for the Conservation Title in the 2018 Farm Bill, more than 140 leading farm, conservation, and wildlife groups are once again joining together to protect those hard-fought conservation funds and programs in the fiscal year (FY) 2020 appropriations process. In a letter delivered recently, the groups, which include the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), National …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that dairy producers who elected to participate in the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Cattle Program (LGM-Dairy) now have the opportunity to participate in the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) for 2018 coverage. Sign-up will take place March 25 through May 10, 2019. Producers enrolled in 2018 LGM-Dairy, administered by USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), previously were determined by the 2014 Farm Bill to be ineligible for coverage under …

Western Growers is proud to announce the recent hire of Anna Bilderbach, who will serve as the Learning and Development Manager on the Human Resources team. Bilderbach brings more than two decades of experience in HR-related training. In her role as Learning and Development Manager, Bilderbach is responsible for conducting all training for Western Growers member farmers and the agricultural …

Over 100 organizations representing water and agricultural interests in the Western U.S. urged Congress today to use any infrastructure package under consideration to help address severe hydrological conditions in the West. “As a nation we must continually invest in the Western water infrastructure necessary to meet current and future demands,” the groups stated in a letter sent to key congressional …