From the Basin Business Journal “We’re trying to sit down and understand the deals going back ten years,” 13th Legislative District Representative Tom Dent says of the Odessa Subarea surface water delivery plan. The plan to bring surface water to farmers who now are operating pumps out of the Odessa Aquifer is on hold because of the convoluted deals and ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Farmers who lose crops to elk or deer would pay up to $600 to file a claim under a policy that the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider Friday. According to written administrative rules, the state will pay for an adjuster to assess damages. In actual practice, wildlife managers have for several years required the ... Read More »

From The Spokesman-Review Mary Dye of Pomeroy will be coming back to Olympia next year, elected Tuesday night to keep the seat she filled through an appointment earlier this year. Dye, 54, easily beat former Franklin County Sheriff Richard Lathim in the general election for the 9th District House seat that became vacant when Susan Fagan resigned this spring after ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The Obama administration released the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement’s full text Thursday, giving farm groups their first chance to study in detail a trade pact they had already largely embraced. Hours after the release of the 30-chapter, 2,000-page agreement, the Northwest Horticultural Council’s trustees officially endorsed TPP. The organization represents apple, pear and cherry growers, packers and ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse The White House has posted the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, triggering the start of a public review process. The 30 chapters of the TPP agreement include a sanitary and phytosanitary measures section meant to prevent countries from using standards for food safety and animal and plant health as trade barriers. There are other chapters on ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Despite White House objections, the Senate voted for a resolution Nov. 4 to scrap new federal rules to protect smaller streams, tributaries and wetlands from development and pollution. Senators voted 53-44 in favor of a “resolution of disapproval,” a measure that would void the regulations if also passed by the House and signed by the president. The ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse Senate Democrats blocked a bill aimed at forcing the Obama administration to replace its Clean Water Act rule, but Republicans quickly advanced a disapproval resolution that would simply kill the rule. The measure aimed at replacing the rule needed 60 votes to advance to a full debate, but just four Democrats supported the cloture motion, leaving the bill ... Read More »

From Agweek Enough is enough, says the National Association of Wheat Growers, which is working on a new plan to combat the long decline in U.S. wheat acreage. “Wheat is in trouble.” says Brett Blankenship, a wheat farmer from Washtucna, Wash., and president of the National Association of Wheat Growers. “There’s been a 20-year decline in productivity and profitability. “Effort ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse The days of direct payments are over and so is some of the predictability about whether an individual grower will receive payments. That’s likely to cause some consternation, especially when growers of one crop in one county receive payments while growers in a neighboring county do not. USDA started issuing checks totaling about $3.9 billion last week. How does ... Read More »

From Agri-Pulse The Senate could vote as early as next week on a resolution killing the Obama administration’s new rule re-defining what ditches, wetlands and other areas are regulated by the Clean Water Act. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) announced yesterday that she has gathered enough support for a joint resolution of disapproval to overcome a Democratic filibuster. She didn’t say how many senators supported ... Read More »