Nearly 750 acres of prime Franklin County farmland is up for the taking on Nov. 13.

Lawmakers are hoping instead that legislation enacted in May will make it easier for farm fuel users and haulers of agricultural goods to receive the fuel exemption promised under the state’s cap-and-trade system.

A new paper authored by Washington State University researchers and partners based in the Tri-Cities identifies two cover crops that have positive or neutral impacts on soil quality and can be harvested and sold for biofuel production. 

A $250,000 state grant to upgrade a former apple processing facility in Sunnyside will help preserve dozens of jobs while also providing a new buyer for the region’s orchards. 

A string of unexplained cattle mutilations that rattled a tight-knit ranching community in Oregon is the subject of a documentary screening in Richland.

Washington’s agriculture department is seeking more than $13 million to deal with a pair of invasive insects that can destroy and damage a variety of plants, crops and trees, including one with a growing presence in the Mid-Columbia. 

Starting today, no more surface water may be used for irrigation in the Yakima Basin through the remainder of October. 

As immigration policies change, farmers are turning to a guest worker program known as the H-2A visa program, an option allowing farmers to legally hire workers from other countries. As immigration detentions ramp up, concerns grow among employers and domestic workers.

A Wenatchee-based tree fruit producer with orchards in the Mid-Columbia is partnering with a farm management company to expand organic apple and cherry production in the Columbia Basin. 

With a successful fair in the rear view, the fair board’s attention is now focused on hammering out a lease for the fairgrounds amid tense negotiations with their landlord, the Benton County commissioners.