WA farm labor organizer ends his deportation fight after 4 months in ICE detention A well-known farm labor organizer in Washington’s Skagit Valley, Alfredo Juarez Zeferino, has decided to give up his deportation fight for now and return to Mexico. Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez
A 'perfect' season for Washington's sweet cherries turns sour because of deportation fears It was supposed to be a banner year for Pacific Northwest cherries. Cherry production is estimated to be about 10% above last year’s, the fruit is high quality, and California’s shorter-than-usual season meant cherry pickers would be free to migrate north to bring in the crop. The only problem? They never showed up. Monica Nickelsburg
UW project took nuisance seaweed from shellfish farm to help growers. The USDA cut its funding A $5 million grant to promote climate-smart farm practices that funded the Blue Carbon, Green Fields project was cancelled by the USDA. Ruby de Luna
Beloved WSU bread-baking lab in Burlington threatened by Trump cuts Food research at Washington State University is being hit by federal funding cuts. That includes the WSU Breadlab in Burlington, which studies, grows, and bakes new kinds of whole grains. Casey Martin
Washington state spud farmers will be mashed by Trump’s tariffs, Sen. Murray warns During President Donald Trump’s first term, Washington cherry growers took a big hit from tariffs that increased the cost of doing business with India. This time around, tariffs could devastate Washington potato farmers exporting their spuds to Japan, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray warned. Joshua McNichols
Washington farmworkers call for better work conditions amid Trump deportation threats More than 100 farmworkers and their supporters traveled to Olympia from the state’s rural counties Tuesday to lobby lawmakers for more protections against unfair labor practices. Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez
Invasive ‘murder hornets’ eradicated from the U.S. The Washington and U.S. Departments of Agriculture announced the eradication Wednesday, saying there had been no detections of the northern giant hornet in Washington since 2021. Gene Johnson, Associated Press
Why Washington state aims to ban English ivy It’s not a war on Christmas. But two botanical symbols of the holiday — holly and ivy — face increasing controls in Washington due to the ecological havoc they can wreak when they escape into the wild. John Ryan
Have a Holly Noxious Christmas? State board eyes un-jolly label for invasive greenery Washington state officials are debating whether to brand a traditional holiday decoration a noxious weed. The dubious decor is English holly. John Ryan Play AudioListen 5 mins
Sister seas on opposite shores face same foe: polluted runoff “Why do we think it takes 40 or 50 years to fix an estuary, a series of rivers, or even a bay? If you stop putting shit in these rivers, they get better fast." John Ryan Play AudioListen 7 mins
