By Dr. Xianming Chen Barley leaf rust Barley leaf rust (caused by Puccinia hordei) was found in a couple of fields planted with facultative winter barley variety ‘Maja’ in Walla Walla County, Wash., near the Oregon border. By May 18, rust incidence was 100 percent and severity ranged from 40 to 100 percent.  According to the grower, the fields were planted last October ... Read More »

From NAWG On Wednesday, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on the “State of the Rural Economy” with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue testifying. The hearing focused on a variety of issues ranging from crop insurance, the reorganization of the rural development office within the USDA, trade and more. Secretary Purdue made comments before answering questions ... Read More »

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) urge caution today as the Trump Administration officially submitted to Congress its notice of intent to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The U.S. wheat industry welcomes the opportunity for improving the framework for cross border wheat trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico, but ... Read More »

From NAWG Today, the House Committee on Agriculture held a Full Committee hearing on the “State of the Rural Economy.” U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue shared his perspective on the on the current state of the agricultural economy and how to make USDA programs work better for America’s farmers and ranchers. National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) President David ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.4 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at, 2 percent poor, 18 percent fair, 62 percent good and 18 percent excellent. A low temperature of 28 degrees F was reported in northeast region, while a high temperature of 85 degrees F was reported in the southeast region. Statewide temperature differentials ranged from 5 degrees below normal ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Rural areas are still waiting for relief from the Legislature to fix the controversial Hirst water decision issued by the Washington State Supreme Court last fall that has severely curtailed economic development by limiting the use of permit-exempt wells. While several bills were introduced this session to address the court decision, one bill (E2SSB 5239) ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Eastern Washington farmers who had snow mold on their wheat earlier this year had to wait to see if the crop would recover, and now it looks like the damage will be minimal, researchers say. Read the rest of the story here. Read More »

From NAWG Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the creation of an undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). He continued by declaring that the reorganization includes the formation of a newly-named Farm Production and Conservation mission area to have a customer focus and meet USDA constituents in the field. National ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.9 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at 0 percent very poor, 3 percent poor, 10 percent fair, 73 percent good and 14 percent excellent. A low temperature of 29 degrees F was reported in both the central and east central regions while a high temperature of 92 degrees F was reported in ... Read More »

By Dr. Xianming Chen May 5, 2017 On May 2-3, we were planting spring nurseries and taking stripe rust notes in Mount Vernon (Skagit County), Wash. Winter wheat ranged Feekes 5 to 7. As usual, wheat stripe rust developed up to 40 percent severity on susceptible varieties. Barley stripe rust was found only in two rows of the same susceptible check ... Read More »