By Xianming Chen Stripe rust will be likely severe in the eastern Pacific Northwest Based on the forecast models using the temperature data from November 2016 to February 2017, stripe rust will potentially cause yield loss of 32 percent on highly susceptible varieties. This number is much higher than the 6 percent forecasted in January based only on the November-December ... Read More »

By Ben Conner Director of Policy for U.S. Wheat Associates  March 1, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office released the President’s Trade Policy Agenda for 2017. This document lays out the key trade policy principles and objectives of the Trump Administration. Probably the best word to describe this agenda is aggressive. Some might have expected a word like transformative or even cataclysmic, ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Farmers worried about snow mold damage in their wheat fields need to wait three to four weeks to determine whether their crop will recover, a plant expert says. Snow mold can look worse on the surface than it actually is, said Tim Murray, plant pathologist at Washington State University. The fungi that cause the disease occur ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse This is #4 in Agri-Pulse’s series on farm bill lessons. The Republican speaker of the House is committed to reforming welfare programs – including food assistance – to fulfill a campaign promise. But farm-state lawmakers are worried about holding together a fragile urban-rural coalition long seen critical to passing a new farm bill. That could be 2017, but ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Monday marked the 57th day of the legislative session. Over the next two days, all bills must pass out of their house of origin to remain eligible to move forward this year unless they are necessary to implement the budget. The deadline to pass bills out of the house of origin is Wednesday, March 8 at 5 ... Read More »

From the Capital Press President Donald Trump tapped former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be his agriculture secretary six weeks ago, but the administration still hasn’t formally provided the Senate with the paperwork for the nomination. The delay is frustrating farm-state senators, who represent many of the core voters who helped elect Trump. Read the rest of the story here. Read More »

From Agri-Pulse President Donald Trump has issued an executive order directing the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider their controversial Waters of the U.S. rule and narrowly interpret their jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Trump signed the order Tuesday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in front of about 25 people, including Vice President Mike Pence, First Lady Melania ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Legislation to require farmers to alert neighbors at least two hours before spraying pesticides has died for this year, though it’s likely to resurface in the future. Farmworkers gathered in a conference room Monday on the Capitol Campus to talk about their issues, including the risk of being exposed to drifting pesticides. read the rest of ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Friday marked the 49th day and the second cut-off deadline of the 2017 Legislative Session. Last week was focused on the fiscal committees hearing and passing out bills with a fiscal impact. Last Friday was the deadline for bills to pass out of fiscal committees unless they are bills needed to pass the budget. Over the ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse When Sen. Debbie Stabenow sat at the helm of the Senate Committee on Agriculture for the first time in 2011, there was a row of seats filled by ranking member Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and other Republican senators on her left. Democrats lined up in chairs on the right. Staff filled in all along the back walls of the ... Read More »