Farmers

The head of the Oregon Farmers Market Association joins us to talk about how markets across the state are faring.

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates announces it's scaling back and will buy half the grapes it contracted for this fall, which could have ripple effects throughout the region.

Farmers are two to three times more likely to die by suicide than the general public. Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill that would provide state money to support a suicide helpline for people who work the land.

In other news, the recent bout of frigid November temperatures has further shrunk an already light apple harvest in Washington and the Bandon Hatchery and Coquille Tribe are excited with the replenished Chinook salmon numbers following years of dwindling returns.

Oregon’s hazelnut growers will only get roughly half the price they did last year for their crop.

A community project in downtown Eugene is finally complete: The Lane County Farmers Market will be in its new year-round pavilion this Saturday.

Across the Northwest, wheat is already springing up out of the ground ankle-high. But the cost of raw chemicals for farming – like fertilizer and pesticides – are up, and hard to come by these days. Part of the problems for farmers are being driven by the war in Ukraine.

A bill that would give overtime protections to Oregon farmworkers passed the House 37-23 on Tuesday and will next head to the Senate for consideration.

Low water flows on the upper Klamath River have caused the death of hundreds, possibly thousands of fish.