From the Farm Service Agency Sign-ups are going on now through Aug. 23, 2019, for the following options under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP): Contracts set to expire this fall, except for Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), can be extended one year to Sept. 30, 2020, provided the contract will be 14 years old or less on Sept. 30, 2019. ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers On July 25, 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced details of its latest $16 billion in aid to offset trade damages, including another round of market facilitation program (MFP) payments of $14.5 billion for farmers who are being impacted by the current trade war with China. Payment rates are set at a ... Read More »

From farmers.gov Assistance for non-specialty crops is based on a single-county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total plantings of MFP-eligible crops in aggregate in 2019. Those per-acre payments are not dependent on which of those crops are planted in 2019. A producer’s total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings. County payment rates range from $15 to $150 per ... Read More »

From the U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced details of the $16 billion package aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals. In May, President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory ... Read More »

One of the more significant changes in the 2018 Farm Bill was the establishment of a new Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) Grassland Conservation Initiative as a way to save money in the commodity title of the farm bill. In short, certain base acres that have not been planted to a commodity crop a nine-year period will not be eligible for ... Read More »

From NASS There were 7.0 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up from 6.8 days suitable the previous week. In northwest Washington, minimal showers were reported, but rain was not enough to improve soil moisture or crop condition. In Clallam, Jefferson and King counties, overcast days prevented further hay cuttings, but forage production overall was up this year. ... Read More »

From the Farm Service Agency A new online tool can help farmers and ranchers find information on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) farm loans that may best fit their operations. USDA has launched the new Farm Loan Discovery Tool as the newest feature on farmers.gov, the department’s self-service website for farmers. “Access to credit is critical in the agriculture industry, ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 6.9 days suitable the previous week. In Whitman County, weather stayed mild and boosted crop condition. In Walla Walla and Columbia counties, crop condition was good, and weather helped harvest commence for winter wheat. Many peas were harvested for forage. Winter wheat producers set harvest ... Read More »

By Dr. Xianming Chen During our field survey on July 9 in Whitman, Garfield, Columbia, Walla Walla and Astotin counties of Washington and Nez Perce and Latah counties of Idaho, winter wheat ranged from milk to mature. Stripe rust was found on green plants in some winter wheat fields, but at very low levels. Spring wheat ranged from heading to ... Read More »

On June 7, 2019, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it was investigating a detection of genetically engineered (GE) wheat in an unplanted agricultural field in Washington state.  The GE wheat plants in question were resistant to the herbicide glyphosate. After a thorough fact finding effort, APHIS has determined through testing that the GE wheat plants ... Read More »