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 »

From NASS There were 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 6.8 days the previous week. In western Washington, there were smoke intrusions from the fires in the east and now Oregon and California. Smoke did not stop harvest, but made it much more difficult and dangerous. The weather was hot and dry. CSA operations continued ... Read More »

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides assistance to qualifying farmers and ranchers within Washington state to help them recover from production or physical losses due to natural disaster events, such as the fires currently burning. This assistance is provided through FSA’s Emergency Loan Program or one of its many disaster programs. Below is a quick overview of FSA’s disaster programs ... Read More »

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced this week that the application deadlines for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Classic in Washington state with a strong focus on conservation planning, conservation implementation, and solving natural resource concerns. EQIP is a voluntary, technical and financial assistance program designed to help farmers, ranchers, private forestland owners, Tribes and other private landowners/managers ... Read More »

Presidential candidates respond to questions from Farm Bureau From DTN Responding to questions from the American Farm Bureau Federation, President Donald Trump’s campaign points to the administration’s support for farmers and agriculture in regulations, trade and labor, while former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign counters a Biden presidency would repair some of the trade relations that have affected agriculture the ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 6.9 days the previous week. In western Washington, it continued to stay dry. Irrigation continued where it was possible. Tree fruit began to ripen. CSA farms continued to haul in large harvests. Livestock were running low on pastures. Pastures started to suffer from lack of ... Read More »

Last week, 26 U.S. representatives and 21 U.S. senators from wheat producing states issued letters to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asking that he use existing funds through the CARES Act to begin covering 2020 crop losses and to include all classes of wheat. “NAWG is grateful for Congressman Frank Lucas’s (R-Okla.) leadership on this important effort to ... Read More »

From USDA Farmers and ranchers can now contact a call center to receive one-on-one assistance from USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) employees ready to help. By calling 877-508-8364, customers can ask questions about FSA programs – including to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) – and get a jump start on program applications. The call center was created in response ... Read More »