Due to social distancing guidelines, Washington State University (WSU) Cereal Variety Testing Program has canceled their 2020 plot tours. According to the WSU small grains website, virtual tours will be recorded at Lind, the Wilke Farm/Reardan, Dayton and Pullman. The annual Lind Field Day has also been canceled. This is only the second field day cancellation in 105 years; the ... Read More »

From the U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) Sonny Perdue announced last month a final rule updating and modernizing the USDA’s biotechnology regulations under the Plant Protection Act. The Sustainable, Ecological, Consistent, Uniform, Responsible, Efficient (SECURE) rule will bring USDA’s plant biotechnology regulations into the 21st century by removing duplicative and antiquated processes in order to facilitate ... Read More »

Producers signed a record 1.77 million contracts for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2019 crop year, which is more than 107 percent of the total contracts signed compared with a 5-year average. USDA also reminds producers that June 30 is the deadline to enroll in ARC and PLC ... Read More »

Producers are reminded that if their general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) offer was accepted this spring, there are a number of forms to be completed and signed before the enrollment is complete and a contract is approved. If you are provided forms or other materials to complete and sign by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) or the Natural Resources Conservation ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down some from 5.9 the previous week. Planting progress wrapped up, and good emergent progress was reported. In western Washington, a mix of rain and sunshine helped field crops stay healthy. In San Juan County, forage was almost ready for early haylage harvest. Livestock was on rotation ... Read More »

Today, growers in Eastern Washington learned many of them would not be eligible for the latest round of aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Soft red winter, hard red winter and white wheat have been deemed not eligible for the Coronovirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which sets aside $16 billion for direct payments to farmers and ranchers under ... Read More »

By Dr. Xianming Chen This week, we were eventually able to travel to Mount Vernon (Skagit County) in northwest Washington to finish the first note-taking of stripe rust in winter nurseries and planting spring nurseries. The activities were about two to three weeks later than usual. Winter wheat ranged from late jointing (Feekes 9) to headed (Feekes 10.5) and winter ... Read More »

In a series of articles, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) is profiling state wheat commissions, highlighting the partnership between the commissions and USW. Today, they focused on the Washington Grain Commission (WGC). The WGC has been a member of USW since 1980, and several commissioners have served as chairman of the WGC. Read the full profile here.   Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service Based on May 1, 2020, conditions, production of winter wheat in Washington was forecast at 118 million bushels, down 1 percent from 2019. Yield was expected to average 72.0 bushels per acre, up 2.0 bushels from the previous year. Growers planted an estimated 1.7 million acres in the fall of 2019, down 50,000 acres from ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is collecting data from approximately 50,000 farmers and ranchers for its annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). The survey looks at all aspects of U.S. agricultural production, the well-being of farm households, farm finances, chemical usage, and various farm production characteristics. The survey also collects detailed information on production practices, ... Read More »