Ann Bailey

A video series produced by Northarvest Bean Growers Association will teach information about dry beans from the time they are developed until they are ready to reach the mouths of consumers.

As the options to raise taller dry bean varieties have increased, so has the interest in straight combining the crops.

The Bean Institute's message that dry beans are a nutritious food that can be served in a variety of ways has not changed, but the way the institute is delivering that message has been transformed.

Julie Garden-Robinson and Susie Thompson produced a “A Pocket Guide to Preparing Potatoes,” which features information on nutrients in potatoes, types of potatoes and ways to prepare them.

Rain — heavy in some counties — has stalled the canola and dry bean harvest, and unseasonably warm temperatures have prevented farmers from digging potatoes and sugarbeets.

Never, ever take democracy for granted. That's the underlying message from 99-year-old Santa Barbara resident Erika Kahn and her cadre of dedicated volunteers who send out handwritten postcards reminding people to vote.

Sugarbeet farming tends to run in families. The Green family of North Dakota, the Nelson family of Minnesota, the Lapaseotes, and the Brown family of Idaho trace their sugarbeet roots across decades.

New school lunch guidelines from USDA are aimed at reducing added sugars in students' diets. For the sugar industry, the guidelines are a 'mixed bag," Courtney Gaine, of the Sugar Association, says.

One of the annual traditions at our farm is to put up corn stalks, pumpkins and a straw bale at the head of our driveway each fall.

Sugarbeet crop yields and total tonnage across North America varied from record breaking to about average, while sugar content was average to above average.