By Diana Carlen Lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers The 2025 Washington State Legislative Session may have wrapped up in April, but the work in Olympia continues. Interim activities are already shaping the policy and budget debates for the 2026 legislative session. The interim is busy filled with work groups, agency rulemaking, interim legislative committee meetings, and agency budget and ... Read More »

From Successful Farming Government Executive’s Eric Katz reported that “the Agriculture Department is confident its push to move more employees out of Washington and into five new hubs around the country will retain most staff and large-scale layoffs will not be necessary, a top official told lawmakers on Wednesday.” Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From Farm Policy News “If approved, the deal would be the largest ever buyout in the sector and combine Union Pacific’s stronghold in the western two-thirds of the United States with Norfolk’s 19,500-mile network that primarily spans 22 eastern states. The two railroads are expected to have a combined enterprise value of $250 billion and would unlock about $2.75 billion ... Read More »

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 6.5 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington. Washington crop condition Spring wheat: 6% very poor 42% poor 36% fair 12% good 4% excellent Barley: 3% very poor 45% poor 37% fair 14% good 1% excellent Washington crop progress: Winter wheat harvested: 35% this week 18% last week 29% last year 29% ... Read More »

Last week, Gil Crosby, vice president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and a wheat grower from Spokane County, took part in Washington, D.C., fly-in with the Modern Ag Alliance to emphasize the importance of crop protection tools in agriculture. “Crop protection tools play a critical role in our ability to raise a crop in an affordable, sustainable manner,” ... Read More »

From cropinsuranceinamerica.org Whether you are new to the world of farm policy, or a seasoned pro steeped in the details, it’s never a bad idea to keep helpful resources handy. To give you a leg up on all things crop insurance, we thought it would be helpful to provide a small library of policy essentials that you could flag in ... Read More »

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington. Washington crop condition Spring wheat: 6% very poor 32% poor 41% fair 19% good 2% excellent Barley: 3% very poor 30% poor 43% fair 23% good 1% excellent Washington crop progress: Winter wheat harvested: 18% this week 5% last week 9% last year 14% ... Read More »

From the Spokesman-Review As a former farmer who spent decades working the land and depending on it to feed my family and others, I know firsthand what real conservation looks like. It’s not found in news releases or political campaigns … Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers On July 16, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit hearing titled, “Financing Farm Operations: The Importance of Credit and Risk Management.” This hearing focused on the severe downturn in the agricultural economy, with witnesses drawing direct parallels to the 1980s farm crisis. The central message was that ... Read More »

From world-grain.com One hundred miles east of Denver and at 5,350 feet above sea level, Ben Palen’s hard red winter wheat crop is a low-carbon project on a large scale. Planted across 6,300 acres of land owned by Palen, his wife Leslie Hammer-Palen and two other family farms, it’s one-half blueprint, one-half labor of love long in the making for ... Read More »