**The American Farm Bureau Federation recognized 15 farm and ranch women leaders as graduates of its Women's Communications Boot Camp fall session.

The intensive four-day course comprised hands-on sessions related to public speaking, working with the media and messaging.

AFBF tells agrimarketing.com, with less than 2% of the population engaged in farming or ranching, honing outreach skills and connecting with the non-farming public in new and creative ways is essential.

Among those 15 graduates was Washington state’s Sarah Howard.

**There’s something much scarier than jack-o-lanterns when it comes to IMPORTED pumpkins: invasive species.

According to agweb.com, during a recent inspection, Customs and Border Protection ag specialists intercepted Flower Longhorn Beetles in a shipment of pumpkins from Costa Rica.

While in their larvae stage, the beetles can bore beneath a tree’s bark, potentially damaging healthy trees.

Last year’s daily average, CBP seized over 44-hundred prohibited plant, meat, animal byproducts and soil, and intercepted 319 insect pests at ports of entry.

**Cold weather in Idaho and heavy rains in the Red River Valley in North Dakota and Minnesota will affect how many table stock potatoes those regions have this season.

Thepacker.com reports, the weather prevented harvest in some regions.

The extent of crop loss in Idaho is unknown, but some fields won’t be harvested, while others will be harvested only because of insurance requirements.

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