From the Capital Press The Trump administration has signed off on a new operations plan for 14 dams in the Columbia River Basin that commits to improving fish passage and habitat, but does not call for breaching dams on the lower Snake River to protect endangered salmon and steelhead. On Sept. 28, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up from 6.6 days the previous week. In San Juan County, there were some nice field days until a major low-pressure system brought back much needed moisture. This reduced harvest time for many vegetable and fruit crops. Livestock were still on pasture, and most were supplemented with ... Read More »

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) is announcing that its Vice President, Nicole Berg, has been appointed to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) Board of Directors. “NAWG is excited to announce that FCIC has accepted its nomination of NAWG Vice President Nicole Berg to its Board,” said NAWG President and Cass City, Mich., wheat grower Dave Milligan. “Berg’s ... Read More »

From The Seattle Times It would be an understatement to say 2020 is a tough year. Employment in all economic sectors around the state, except for health care, has cratered. There continue to be heroic efforts to make sure people have food, shelter and the other supplies basic to life and health. Much of the heavy lifting continues to be ... Read More »

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From NASS There were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up from 6.0 days the previous week. In western Washington, most fieldwork came to a halt or decreased due to the poor air quality from the wildfires. A couple of light rain events reduced the fire danger locally but did not provide the deep watering that was ... Read More »

From the Capital Press A $3 million gift will establish an endowed chair in plant pathology at Washington State University. The gift, from the Rosalie and Harold Rea Brown Foundation, establishes the Rosalie & Harold Rea Brown Distinguished Endowed Chair in Plant Pathology. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

All wheat is in! Last night, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a second round of Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments that extends eligibility to all classes of wheat. In the first round of CFAP only hard red spring and durum wheat qualified for payments. The $14 billion package will provide payments for commodities that saw at least ... Read More »

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds farm owners that they have a one-time opportunity to update Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program yields for covered commodities on the farm. The deadline is Sept. 30, 2020, to update yields, which are used to calculate the PLC payments for 2020 through 2023. Additionally, producers who elected Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) should also consider ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Washington’s air fleet and efforts to catch wildfires while they’re still small have helped keep the number of blazes down but the state is still headed for a record in acreage burned, the state forester says. “There have been literally dozens and dozens of fire starts that have been stopped at less than 10 acres,” George ... Read More »