The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide up to $20 million for the Grain from Ukraine initiative, which recently was extended an additional 120 days. USAID will provide its support through the UN World Food Program (WFP) and will help facilitate additional shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.

In the war with Russia, Ukrainian farmers have lost grain storage equal to the Pacific Northwest's entire wheat storage capacity, economic analysts say. Before the war started, Ukraine had 57 million metric tons of storage facilities. Now it has 44 million metric tons of storage, said Antonina Broyaka, a Kansas State University Extension associate. That loss equals about 503 million bushels of wheat — the amount of storage available in the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest produces 250 million to 300 million bushels each year.

Freshly baked news: the baguette, the long, crusty loaf bread that is a delicious staple of French life, has been awarded special protected status, placing it in a culinary pantheon alongside other regional food delicacies from around the world.

The Senate on Thursday passed legislation to avert a rail shutdown following a grave warning from President Joe Biden about the economic danger posed by a strike. The House passed the tentative rail agreement on Wednesday. T

The first Field-to-Fork Festival will be in Boise on January 19 at Jack’s Urban Meeting Place, 1000 W. Myrtle St., Boise. The free festival is designed as an interactive trade fair. It aims to bring together independent food and beverage industry professionals including farmers and ranchers, food producers and retailers from around the state.

The inaugural Idaho Farm and Ranch Conference was held Oct. 24-25 in Boise and included a host of discussions and presentations centered around farm stress and financial management. Idaho State Department of Agriculture Director Celia Gould, a rancher and farmer, told participants that national studies show farmers die by suicide at a rate several times the national average. One of the keys to reducing that rate is openly discussing the issue and the factors that lead to it, Gould said.

For the first time, scientists have detected the blast fungus in Germany. The pathogen was found on diseased wild grasses.