From the National Association of Wheat Growers More than 75 groups, including the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), sent a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees advocating on behalf of international food aid programs. In the letter, the groups stated their support for P.L. 480 Title II Food for Peace, Food for Progress, and McGovern-Dole International Food ... Read More »

From Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Yesterday was day 86 of the 2019 Legislative Session. It was the opposite chamber fiscal deadline, where bills had to pass out of the fiscal committees of the opposite chamber unless necessary to implement the budget. Starting today, we move to floor action until the next cutoff deadline which is April 17 at 5 p.m. to ... Read More »

From NASS There were 4.1 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 4.7 the previous week. The Puget Sound region and western Washington had soil moisture deficits. Pasture and crop conditions started to show stress, and some livestock producers were feeding hay even as cattle were turned out to pasture. Blowing soil was observed during spring cultivation, ... Read More »

From The Kansas City Star The two grain bins on Bruce Biermann’s farm near Corning, Missouri, could not withstand the strong currents of the Missouri River. With four feet of water pressing from the outside and grain swelling from moisture inside, the bins burst. At 71, Biermann is looking at more than a $100,000 loss. And he’s not “in this ... Read More »

Reprinted with permission from U.S. Wheat Associates. Original article, published on 04/01/2019, is here. In much of the Western World, on April 1, people go sometimes to great lengths to create mostly harmless “April Fools’ Day” hoaxes. There are many theories about how this odd “celebration” came to be, including an association with the first day of spring in the ... Read More »

The following letter was sent to the members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee on April 2, 2019. Twenty-six groups signed on in support of the letter, including the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, Washington Farm Bureau, transportation associations, electric groups and more.  Members of the Senate Ways & Means Committee: We are urging you to remove the $750,000 ... Read More »

From Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Monday marked the 79th day of the 2019 Legislative Session. The next legislative deadline is April 3 when all bills must pass out of the opposite chamber’s policy committees to remain alive, unless they are necessary to implement the budget. Both chambers can now begin final budget negotiations after Senate Democrats released their budget plan last ... Read More »

From NASS There were 4.7 days suitable for field work in Washington last week. Western Washington continued to warm up with a distinct lack of rain. Soil temperatures in the Puget Sound were still cold due to the cool nights. Field work was in full swing in Whatcom County. Conditions were dry enough to kick up dust during cultivation, while ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Negotiators from Canada and the U.S. will meet again April 10-11 in Victoria, British Columbia, to discuss the future of the Columbia River Treaty. The negotiations follow five previous rounds that began last year. The most recent round was Feb. 27-28 in Washington, D.C. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

One of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ (WAWG) newest board members is Terry Harding who represents Lincoln County. Harding is the fifth generation on his family’s farm in Sprague (established in 1872), where they grow dryland wheat, irrigated and dryland hay and manage a small cow herd. Harding returned to the farm in 2003 after a stint working as ... Read More »