News Bites for Dec. 8, 2023

News briefs from around the Columbia Basin.

Critical habitat proposed for rare southwestern Idaho plant

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Environmental groups reacted with mixed responses Thursday to a Trump administration plan to create critical habitat for a small, flowering plant found only in southwestern Idaho that was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2016.

Critical habitat proposed for rare southwestern Idaho plant

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Environmental groups reacted with mixed responses Thursday to a Trump administration plan to create critical habitat for a small, flowering plant found only in southwestern Idaho that was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2016.

Ag markets ended the week in decidedly mixed fashion

Large supplies again weighed on the crop markets. Corn futures stabilized Thursday night in the wake of the bearish USDA reports and subsequent price drops to fresh lows. However, prices subsequently weakened in Friday trading, despite early morning news of a sizeable corn sale to an unknown destination. December corn futures settled down 2.5 cents to $3.385/bushel Friday, while May sank 2.5 to $3.595.

Ag markets turned mostly lower Friday morning

Large supplies are again weighing on the crop markets. Corn futures stabilized Thursday night in the wake of the bearish USDA reports and subsequent price drops to fresh lows. However, prices have subsequently weakened once again, despite early morning news of a sizeable corn sale to an unknown destination. December corn futures slid 2.5 cents to $3.385/bushel late Friday morning, while May sank 2.5 to $3.595.

Crop markets are mostly lower again Wednesday morning

Crop futures generally continued sliding Tuesday night. The ag industry is focusing upon the likely results of Thursday’s Crop Production and WASDE reports, with huge forecasts for the U.S. corn and soybean harvests likely. Thus, most crop futures sustained their recent downtrends overnight. But, we should probably look for short covering and position squaring starting today. December corn futures inched up 0.25 cent to $3.445/bushel early Wednesday morning, while May lost 0.25 to $3.6525.

Most ag markets rose in concert with equities Thursday

The crop markets exhibited surprising strength Thursday. Overnight grain weakness seemed to reflect bearish equity market expectations, as well as an acceleration of the fall harvest as the Midwest dries out. But the corn market rebounded by midmorning, which probably reflected a sizeable sale announced earlier, as well as the late-morning stock market comeback. December corn futures settled up 4.75 cents to $3.5225/bushel Thursday afternoon, while May moved up 4.75 cents to $3.7425.

Ag markets mixed Wednesday morning

Corn futures continued to creep up with a few cents higher or so Wednesday morning. Slow farmer selling was resulting in firmer basis as the cold weather spurs domestic feed demand. At the same time demand from ethanol plants is rising as well. But export demand is still sluggish. News out of China said the country is planning to build more containers to reduce storage pressure due to increasing stockpiles of grains. December corn futures advanced 2.75 cent to close at $3.77/bushel Wednesday, while May was up 2.75 cents to $3.985.

LDS church company to bid on Easterday properties

SPOKANE — A Salt Lake City-based real estate company associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is preparing to bid nearly $200 million for all of the property owned by bankrupt Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches.

Keeping cool

Triple-digit temperatures require fair exhibitors to keep close eye on animals

MOSES LAKE — The swine barn at the Grant County Fair is shady and relatively cool compared to outside, and the pigs were dozing in a pile of wood shavings.

Dutch farmers protest move to cut emissions from livestock

DE BILT, Netherlands (AP) — Some 2,000 farmers gathered in the central Netherlands Wednesday for the latest in a string of protests against government efforts to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides from livestock.

Rudolph Conrad 'Rudy' Willging

Rudolph Conrad "Rudy" Willging, age 87, died on March 27, 2008, at the Avalon Care Center in Othello.

Christopher Alexander Matheson

Christopher Alexander Matheson, beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away at home on Nov. 27.

Ernest Gilmore Engelhardt

Ernest Engelhardt, 85, passed away in Ephrata, Washington on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 at Columbia Basin Hospital.

CPoW annual meeting set for Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE - The Cattle Producers of Washington annual meeting here on Friday, Oct. 26, will include an update on the CPoW Livestock Processors Cooperative Association, which owns and operates a meat processing plant at Odessa.

Michael ‘Mike’ Gene Harper

Michael “Mike” Gene Harper, loving husband, father, pompa (grandfather) and friend, left us on Nov. 25, 2021, at age 60, to go home to his Heavenly Father.

Jason Daniel Howe

Jason Daniel Howe, born Oct. 27, 1974, passed away to be with the Lord on Aug. 21, 2021, from pneumonia and COVID virus.

Gary M. Thoren

February 11, 1945 – January 22, 2025

Gary Thoren passed away peacefully in the early morning of Jan. 22, 2025, just short of his 80th birthday. Gary was born Feb. 11, 1945, to Cecil and Naomi (Evers) Thoren in Amira, Washington. The family moved to dryland wheat and cattle ranch near Bridgeport, Washington. He was raised with brothers John, Denny and Bob (deceased) and sisters Betty and Donna (Deede).

Ritzville student uses COVID-related closure to start business

When the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year, Peyton Curtis really didn't think it would amount to much.

Small profits forecast for most growers in 2017

SPOKANE — Potato and onion farmers, apple and cherry growers, ranchers and hay growers may make money in 2017 – not a lot, but a little. That’s the conclusion of a quarterly market update issued by the Farm Credit Services office in Spokane.