New York State

The Agriculture Department confirmed outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAi) in adjoining Ulster and Dutchess counties in upstate New York, about 80 miles north of New York City along the Hudson River. The USDA has confirmed 12 other cases, all in the eastern half of the nation, since Feb. 8.

The two top officers of the New York Farm Bureau told Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that trade and immigration are the top ag issues in the Empire State, reports the Glens Falls Post-Star. "We are swimming in milk," said vice president Eric Ooms, placing the blame on Canadian barricades to U.S. dairy.

The U.S. Northeast, home to 175,000 farms, is under the worst drought in more than a decade, says the NPR blog The Salt. "Many fields are bone dry," says NPR, "and that has many farmers thinking about how to manage their land, their animals and the water that is there."

Wisconsin is "America's Dairyland" — it says so on the state license plates, although California became the largest milk-producing state years ago. And now, Idaho and New York State are vying for third place, says Ag Day TV.