From Agri-Pulse The 150,000 to 180,000 wheat farmers in America are facing a double-barrel challenge: 1. The declining role and power of agriculture generally; and 2. The declining position of wheat farmers compared to both foreign competition and compared to other major commodities here, specifically, corn and soybeans. If anyone needs any proof of the declining role of agriculture, all ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse Trade ministers have officially signed off on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but that doesn’t look to be speeding up congressional approval in the United States. The officials from 12 Pacific Rim countries gathered in Auckland, New Zealand, Thursday (Wednesday in the U.S.) to sign the final text of the TPP, signaling the official end of the deal’s negotiations. Attention ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Northwest wheat farmers will have to rethink the definition of a “good” price during the next few years, a Washington State University economics professor says. Farmers were not happy with wheat priced at $5.99 per bushel last year, said Randy Fortenbery, professor and small grains economist at WSU. However, USDA forecasts average wheat prices at roughly ... Read More »

The Department of Ecology today released a new draft clean water rule (also known as the fish consumption rule) that contains a more protective cancer risk rate, in keeping with the governor’s directive from October 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency also is preparing a rule for Washington in case the state’s rule is not finalized. EPA released its draft rule ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Last Friday marked the end of the third week of the legislative session. The first legislative deadline is fast approaching. All policy bills must make it out of their policy committee of house of origin (i.e. Senate bills must pass out of their Senate policy committee and House bills must pass out of their House ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse In the most extensive poll of how U.S. farmers and ranchers plan to vote for president, respondents overwhelmingly say they’ll support a Republican, and among those, 40 percent say they will support Donald Trump. “It’s clear that GOP-leaning voters are very dissatisfied with the direction of the country, the way President Obama is doing his job and the ... Read More »

By Dalton Henry Director of Policy, U.S. Wheat Associates Representatives from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiating countries are set to sign the agreement in New Zealand next week. Though signing the pact is primarily ceremonial, it marks another step forward in the long process of putting the world’s largest free trade agreement into action. In the months since the ... Read More »

By Tim Murray WSU Extension Dr. Chen, Research Plant Pathologist with the USDA-ARS in Pullman, released his first stripe rust forecast of the season last week and it’s good news for growers, although you might not know that if you just read the first sentence of his summary, which says “The current forecast is that highly susceptible winter wheat varieties would have ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Week 2 of the legislative session was busy with public hearings on legislation. The first legislative deadline is Feb. 5, 2016, when all policy bills must make it out of their policy committees. Tim Eyman’s I-1366 Latest Initiative Ruled Unconstitutional Last Thursday, a King County Superior Judge ruled I-1366 unconstitutional and voided it. I-1366, approved ... Read More »

From the Capital Press A dairy industry-backed House bill introduced Friday proposes that the Washington Department of Agriculture help develop an alternative to manure-handling rules expected soon from the state’s ecology agency. House Bill 2840 wouldn’t stop the Department of Ecology from issuing those rules, which dairy lobbyists contend could be a financially crushing combination of state and federal laws. ... Read More »