From NAWG Both the House Budget Committee considered its version of the FY2018 budget resolution and the Senate Appropriations Committee held a markup of its FY2018 Agriculture Appropriations bill this week. While the mark-ups were separate, we had similar concerns going into those markups. The House Budget Committee completed its markup on Wednesday, July 19 with no amendments offered that ... Read More »

How many people can go multiple years without being paid for the work they do? For farmers, that situation is all too common, as a crop can be destroyed by hail, fire, drought, etc., ruining a year’s worth of work very quickly. The only way to survive is through crop insurance. Crop insurance is a vital part of producers’ financial ... Read More »

From NASS There were 7 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at 5 percent very poor, 6 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 53 percent good and 13 percent excellent. A low temperature of 43 degrees F was reported in the western region, while a high temperature of 102 was reported in the southeast region. Statewide differentials ... Read More »

With approximately 90 percent of Washington’s wheat being exported overseas, it isn’t an exaggeration to say that trade is the lifeblood of Washington wheat farmers. The agriculture industry relies heavily on funding from the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program to develop new markets and support existing ones. Studies have shown that these programs generate ... Read More »

Officers and staff of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) are in Washington, D.C., to talk to legislators about the possible impacts of proposed federal budget cuts in three areas critical to Washington wheat farmers: research, trade, and crop insurance. “This trip is focused on demonstrating to legislators how the Trump Administration’s proposed budget cuts in research, trade and crop ... Read More »

From Washington Ag Network Michelle Hennings, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers told the Washington Ag Network removing the dams would be devastating, since 90 percent of wheat grown here is exported. “The Columbia River/Snake River system is the top wheat export gateway in the United States and the third larget export gateway in the world.  Over ... Read More »

By Trista Crossley It’s not unusual to have visitors at the Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ (WAWG) monthly board meetings, but last month’s visitors literally flew across the country to be there. David Schemm, a wheat farmer from Kansas and current president of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), and Chandler Goule, CEO of NAWG, kicked off a visit ... Read More »

From Xianming Chen Rusts in the Palouse Region We were checking fields of wheat and barley in the Palouse region (including Whitman County of Washington and Latah County of Idaho) on July 7, 2017. Winter wheat crop ranged from soft dough to almost mature; spring wheat crop from boot to milk; and spring barley from headed to milk. The rust ... Read More »

From NASS There were 7 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at 5 percent very poor, 7 percent poor, 24 percent fair, 49 percent good and 15 percent excellent. A low temperature of 43 degrees F was reported in the northeast region, while a high temperature of 106 was reported in the southeast region. Statewide differentials ranged from 1 to 12 degrees above ... Read More »

From Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist The Washington State Legislature is still in its 3rd special session despite having averted a partial government shutdown last week by passing a two-year operating budget that was signed by the governor just before midnight last Friday. The reason the Legislature is still in overtime is that an agreement on a capital budget has not ... Read More »