From NASS January was warmer than usual for Washington state. Most of the state received excessive rain while only a few regions received snow, most of which were at higher altitudes. Some regions in the west reported up to 11.10 inches of rain, with most of the west reporting at least an extra inch of rain than usual. Most of ... Read More »

From Politico The high-stakes NAFTA talks appear to be finally headed on a slow-but-steady forward course, but negotiators remain under pressure to deliver quick results to alleviate the threat of President Donald Trump withdrawing from the pact. “We believe that some progress was made,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Monday during a closing press conference. “We finally began to ... Read More »

A group of Washington wheat farmers joined other growers yesterday in Olympia to testify in a Senate Labor and Commerce Committee public hearing on SB 6529, a bill that places unworkable restrictions and onerous reporting requirements on pesticide applicators. The bill would require a pesticide user to provide written notice of an intended pesticide application to the Washington State Department ... Read More »

Recently, organizations along the North American wheat value chain sent a letter to President Trump, President Peña Nieto and Prime Minister Trudeau, as well as with lead negotiators from each country, Ambassador Lighthizer, Minister Freeland, and Minister Guajardo, stressing the importance of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to the wheat industry. Ranging from seed to bread and baked goods, key ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist The Washington State Legislature convened for the 2018 regular session on Monday, Jan. 8. In even calendar years, regular legislative sessions are scheduled for 60 days and are referred to as “short” sessions because the Legislature does not need to adopt the state operating budget, which occurs in odd-numbered years. During short sessions, the Legislature ... Read More »

From U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are expressing concern that a revised Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that excludes the U.S. puts overseas demand for U.S. wheat at serious risk. “On Jan. 23, 2017, exactly one year ago, President Trump announced the United States would pull ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Fleets of trucks, lines of railcars and bustling ports send U.S. agricultural products to far-flung foreign markets each day. Last year alone, those exports exceeded $140 billion with a trade surplus of more than $21 billion. They also supported more than 1 million jobs to deliver those products around the world and generated $178.8 billion for ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers In April of 2017, President Trump established an Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue serving as chair. The task force was comprised of cabinet members of several federal agencies. The task force outlined five general principals that would allow rural America to have the resources, ... Read More »

From the Farm Bureau Whether farmers are raising cattle in Oklahoma, milking cows in Vermont, growing fruits and vegetables in Florida, or growing corn, soybeans and wheat in America’s heartland, their agricultural income depends on trade. USDA estimates that 25 percent of all U.S. agricultural production is exported, and for some commodities that percentage is even higher. Many of these ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Cold weather that damaged wheat across the central and southern Plains and southern Midwest illustrates the need for a new farm bill with adequate crop insurance coverage, a National Association of Wheat Growers leader says. Gordon Stoner, a Montana farmer and president of NAWG, cited “unusually cold temperatures and snowy conditions,” with damage to about one-quarter ... Read More »