California’s almond bloom requires truckloads of bees to help pollinate around 1 million acres of trees. However, when keepers went to prepare the shipments, they got a devastating surprise.
“So as the beekeepers are starting to look, they open up the colonies, and this year they found a lot lower survival than they expected. In addition to that, the colonies that were surviving were small and dwindling, and it was not at all what they predicted,” said Danielle Downey.
Downey runs a group called Project Apis M, or “PAM.” She says they immediately began to investigate what went wrong.
“They called scientists, and right now they’re looking for viruses. They’ve sent the wax and pollen off for pesticide analysis. So all of that’s underway. And PAm’s role was to gather information from the industry from beekeepers.”
Commercial bee colonies lost around 60 percent of their populations between last June and this month. Officials say that number is well above historical averages and they still do not know what caused the kill off.
U.S. agriculture entered the week with mixed signals as weather, logistics, and markets shaped early-year decisions. Here is a regional breakdown of domestic crop and livestock production for the week of Monday, Jan. 19, 2026.
January 19, 2026 11:40 AM
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RFD NEWS Correspondent Frank McCaffrey speaks with Texas’s Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez about USMCA renegotiation and its impact on U.S.–Mexico agriculture trade.
January 17, 2026 05:00 PM
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Rising rural business confidence supports local ag economies, but taxes and labor shortages remain key constraints.
January 17, 2026 02:00 PM
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CoBank Knowledge Exchange’s Jeff Johnston shares the group’s positive perspective on expanding data centers into rural areas and weighs the risks and rewards for those communities.
January 16, 2026 01:44 PM
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Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller joined us to discuss data center expansion, farmland preservation, rural economic impacts, and imminent cattle biosecurity concerns affecting agriculture today.
January 16, 2026 01:28 PM
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The Pennsylvania Farm Show continues through Saturday, wrapping up another successful year of celebrating agriculture in the Commonwealth.
January 16, 2026 01:26 PM
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