Last week, fourth generation Montana wheat farmer, Michelle Erickson-Jones, testified for Farmers for Free Trade at a hearing on the effects of tariffs on U.S. agriculture and rural communities. To read her testimony and statement visit the Farmers for Free Trade website. Read More »

From AgWeb Farmers across the country are bearing the burden of the tariffs put in place by President Donald Trump. This week at a congressional hearing, some of them shared concerns about the president’s trade tactics including the possibility for shrinking export markets, rising costs and bankers making lending more difficult. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From DTN The House yesterday passed by voice vote a motion to proceed to conference on the farm bill, which is numbered HR 2 and titled the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. The House also passed a Democratic motion to instruct conferees to insist on 10-year permanent funding for an animal vaccine program. The House bill has permanent funding, but ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Pacific Northwest wheat leaders says they are optimistic. Early reports indicate average yields or higher and slightly higher prices compared to last year. Read the rest of the story here. Read More »

From the Capital Press USDA research plant molecular geneticist Camille Steber says she is cautiously optimistic about the prospects of falling number in this year’s Pacific Northwest wheat crop. Steber is testing wheat samples for susceptibility to the starch damage problem. Falling number is a test that measures wheat quality. Low falling number is caused when the enzyme alpha amylase ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.9 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at 3 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 39 percent fair, 49 percent good and 3 percent excellent. A low temperature of 42 degrees F was reported in the northeast region, while a high temperature of 107 degrees F was reported in ... Read More »

Over the weekend, Josh Tonsager, National Association of Wheat Growers’ (NAWG) vice president of policy and communications, spent time down in Benton County with NAWG Secretary/Treasurer Nicole Berg helping out with wheat harvest. Josh also got a tour of the grain elevator and learned all about wheat grading, segregation, Pacific Northwest and U.S. transportation and how trade policy affects the ... Read More »

Confused about what the Chinese tariff mean? Here’s a quick primer published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Read More »

From AgWeb.com Wheat ranks third among U.S. field crops in planted acreage, production and gross farm receipts, behind corn and soybeans. Production has, however, dropped off over the past decade. USDA estimates U.S. farmers planted 46 million acres to wheat for the 2017/18 growing season, down from 50 million in 2016/17 and over 63 million in 2008. In contrast, U.S. ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.8 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at 5 percent poor, 26 percent fair, 63 percent good and 4 percent excellent. A low temperature of 34 degrees F was reported in the northeast region, while a high temperature of 98 degrees F was reported in the southeast region. Statewide ... Read More »