Farming

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a new plan to strengthen its collaboration with tribes and help them build more sustainable food systems.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now testing the nation’s milk supply for the bird flu virus known as H5N1. The virus has spread through dairy cattle in 16 states, including most of the Mountain West.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending $60 million to help tribal farmers in the Mountain West use less water amid drought – and still grow their crops.

Decades of drought and overpumping are draining groundwater tables across the West. Now, some states are buying farmers’ water rights to free up supplies – and plenty of farmers are ready to sell.

A new study shows just how much climate change is shrinking water supplies for Western farmers. But its authors also have some ideas of what they could do to adapt.

The Western Governors' Association, a group of 22 western governors, recently released its highly anticipated plan to decarbonize the West.

A new study reveals how climate change and irrigating crops are affecting river flows in the Western U.S.

Many farmers across the Mountain West grow alfalfa, which is dried into hay and fed to beef and dairy cattle. But it requires a lot more water than most crops. Now, researchers are working on new technologies to reduce the amount farmers use. Still, some say allowing them to grow such a thirsty crop in the arid West is the problem.

As years of drought and overpumping have reduced groundwater supplies across the West, officials and conservation groups in one part of our region are working to address the problem.

A new report shows thousands of elementary schools across the U.S. are near farms likely sprayed with pesticides linked to cancer and other health problems. That includes hundreds of schools in the Mountain West.