Northern Giant Hornet Eradicated and Rural Economy Still Uncertain

**After three years without a confirmed detection, the Washington State Department of Agriculture and USDA have declared the northern giant hornet eradicated from Washington and the U.S.

Washington State Director of Agriculture, Derek Sandison says he’s proud of his team which dedicated years of hard work to safeguarding our state and the nation from this invasive threat to our native pollinators and agriculture.

This effort to find and eradicate the hornets began in 2019.

**House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a last-minute breakthrough to help farmers.

A must-pass bill to avert a government shutdown will now include farm aid, giving farmers something to celebrate the Christmas season.

Johnson says high-pressure lobbying efforts by him and multiple farm groups have paid off.

Johnson says this final package starts with $10 billion, along with the $2 billion USDA announced in November for specialty crops.

**The U.S. continues benefiting from solid economic growth, low unemployment, and moderating inflation, with the overall economy likely to continue on that trajectory, but the rural economic outlook is more uncertain.

According to CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange, the high level of policy uncertainty facing rural industries adds to their already long list of headwinds.

CoBank’s Rob Fox says access to export markets and labor availability are critically important for ag producers and processors.