The National Association of Wheat Growers joined the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and more than 300 agricultural organizations to call on Congress to invest $11.5 billion in the federal agricultural research infrastructure at colleges of agriculture. In the letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees, the groups wrote, “Modern agricultural research ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Up to 146,000 acres of the Northwest — much of it farmland — could be converted to solar production by 2050, according to a recent study. In addition, wind power production could directly impact nearly 8,800 acres. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 6.7 days suitable for field work, up from 6.5 days reported the previous week. Statewide temperatures in Washington for the week ending May 2 were above normal. In western Washington, the weather was great for farming. Some field tillage and planting were done due to the dry soils. Cover crops harvested by dairymen were lighter than ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers Last night, Pres. Joseph Biden delivered his remarks before a Joint Session of Congress. National Association of Wheat growers (NAWG) CEO Chandler Goule provided the following statement in response: “While the president addressed many issues of importance to the American people, we are eager to hear more about agricultural-related policies, specifically how we ... Read More »

From Progressive Farmer While Senate Democrats are confident about the ability to get a bipartisan agricultural climate bill passed, the rift remains with Republicans over USDA’s authority to spend money on a carbon sequestration program without getting approval from Congress first. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist On Sunday night, the final gavel came down, and the 2021 Legislative Session adjourned Sine Die. It was a session unlike any other, held almost entirely remotely and with the campus closed to the public due to the pandemic. While people could testify remotely, oftentimes, people were not able to testify because of the high ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.5 days suitable for field work, down from 6.8 days reported the previous week. Statewide temperatures in Washington for week ending April 25 were normal to above normal. In western Washington, rain helped the fields that were dried out. In Clallam County, it was another good week of weather for farming. Field conditions improved. First grass ... Read More »

Climate legislation is happening at all levels of government. In the last few weeks, multiple leaders in Congress have introduced legislation to address the issue. The first piece of legislation, the Conservation and Innovative Climate Partnership Act, was introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.). The legislation would establish a grant program to help producers adopt conservation and climate practices and ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers Today, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) launched their new Special Climate and Sustainability Committee. The committee will work together to review wheat sustainability issues and guide the development of NAWG policy priorities on climate  policy. “Wheat growers are having a positive impact on the environment and have increased resource-efficient practices in ... Read More »

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will open enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with higher payment rates, new incentives and a more targeted focus on the program’s role in climate change mitigation. Additionally, USDA is announcing investments in partnerships to increase climate-smart agriculture, including $330 million in 85 Regional Conservation Partnership ... Read More »