agriculture News

Officials Say Communities Near Refilling Tulare Lake Now Unlikely to Flood

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California officials said Monday they believe tens of thousands of people living near an ancient freshwater lake bed are not likely to experience flooding this year thanks to improving weather conditions and some swift planning following …

Yosemite Closes over Flooding Threat as Huge Snowpack Melts

LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) — Ron Caetano is packed and ready to go. His family photos and valuables are in the trailer and he’s put food in carry totes. He moved the rabbits and chickens and their automatic feeders to higher …

Evacuations Ordered After Flooding in Small Arizona Town

CHINLE, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo Nation officials ordered evacuations Sunday for some residents of Chinle after floodwaters filled washes and overflowed berms and dirt dams. They said many residents are refusing to leave, however, because they want to protect their …

Insurance Losses from Mississippi Tornado Nearing $100M

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Insurance losses from the March tornado that carved a path of destruction through parts of Mississippi are approaching $100 million, and uninsured losses will likely exceed that number, the state insurance department announced Tuesday. The damage …

Washington Shutters Pot Businesses Due to Old Pesticide

SEATTLE (AP) — Cannabis regulators have halted operations at several outdoor pot farms and processing facilities on a stretch of former fruit orchards in north- central Washington state after testing found high levels of chemicals related to a dangerous pesticide …

Mississippi Tornado Recovery Tough for Low-Income Residents

ROLLING FORK, Miss. (AP) — A massive tornado obliterated the modest one-story home that Kimberly Berry shared with her two daughters in the Mississippi Delta flatlands, leaving only a foundation and some random belongings — a toppled refrigerator, a dresser …

California Storms Flood Strawberry Farms, Others in Valley

As river water gushed through a broken levee, thousands of people in a California farming town were forced to evacuate as their homes were flooded and businesses destroyed. Yet another potential casualty of the powerful rainstorms that drenched coastal California: …

Bird Flu Costs Pile Up as Outbreak Enters Second Year

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The ongoing bird flu outbreak has cost the government roughly $661 million and added to consumers’ pain at the grocery store after more than 58 million birds were slaughtered to limit the spread of the virus. …

11 States Consider ‘Right to Repair’ for Farming Equipment

DENVER (AP) — On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to plant and harvest proso millet, dryland corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is …

Invasive Butterfly Damages Citrus Trees, Has Reached Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The lime swallowtail butterfly — an invasive species that hails from Asia and which has damaged citrus trees throughout the Caribbean for nearly 20 years — has reached Florida. The butterfly is fairly large, with …