It was business as usual at last month’s state board meeting of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG). Several guests stopped by the meeting to talk to producers, including Chris Mertz, regional director of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS); Kay Teisl, risk management specialist from the Risk Management Agency’s (RMA) regional office in Spokane; ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.0 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 6.2 days suitable the previous week. Western Washington had cool and dry conditions. Fall field preparations and planting progressed. The saturated ground slowed harvest and mired some equipment. The sunny, dry days allowed some operators to plant cover crops and cut grass with a good ... Read More »

Back in September, Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG), took part in a stakeholder interview held by a consulting team hired by the Washington State Governor’s Office to talk about the potential impacts of breaching the lower Snake River dams. The Washington State Legislature earmarked $750,000 in the 2019-21 operating budget to have the ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.2 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up from 4.8 days suitable the previous week. The Puget Sound area had cold, dry conditions for the week. Farmers were preparing fields and planting fall crops. Early major flooding last week of the Snoqualmie River and Stillaguamish River caused major vegetable crop loss. Rivers rose. Most ... Read More »

Columbia River Treaty negotiations between the U.S. and Canada are ongoing, with the latest round taking place in September in British Columbia. According to a press release from the government of B.C., delegations from tribes of both nations presented on ecosystem work collaboration. Other issues discussed were flood-risk management and hydropower. The U.S. team is led by chief negotiator, Jill ... Read More »

House Agriculture Committee member Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) joined with two of her colleagues, Rep. Jimmy Pannetta (D-Calif.) and Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill), to introduce a bill that would authorize an annual 5 percent funding increase at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In a press release, the group said the bill, The America Grows Act, restores the U.S. public’s ... Read More »

From U.S. Wheat Associates U.S. Wheat Associates Assistant Director Michael Anderson recently spent a week on a tugboat that was pushing grain barges down the Snake, Columbia and Willamette rivers from Lewiston, Idaho, to Portland, Ore. Read More »

From NASS There were 4.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 5.4 days suitable the previous week. A few breaks in the Pacific storm systems allowed farmers in Western Washington to get out into fields and continue the slog through harvest. Wet conditions delayed field preparation for fall-planted crops. Portions of many fields had standing water. ... Read More »

The U.S. Department Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) fall surveys are underway, and they encourage wheat producers to participate in the surveys when they receive them either by mail or telephone. The feedback producers provide can create a foundation for crop yield, production practices, and help set up loan rates, disaster payments, and crop insurance price elections. There are ... Read More »

By Dalton Henry, USW Vice President of Policy While the trade policy headlines from the month of October have mostly been written about a possible “phase one” trade deal between the United States and China, much less has been said about the recently revised and published China Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) rules for importing wheat and other agricultural products—though their ... Read More »