By Steve Mercer Vice President of Communications, U.S. Wheat Associates Before the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into force on Jan. 1, 1994, state intervention and import tariffs held U.S. wheat exports from the Mexican market. NAFTA ended both, and the newly opened market helped the Mexican flour milling and wheat foods industries to flourish, as did U.S. ... Read More »

Two high school seniors have been selected to represent Washington wheat farmers and will serve as the Washington Wheat Ambassadors for the upcoming year. Lexi Deishl of Waterville and Kyle Appel of Colfax were selected after an initial written application process that also included submitting a short introductory video. Deishl and Appel will each be giving a speech at the ... Read More »

From NAWG Today, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) president, Gordon Stoner, along with several U.S. agricultural stakeholders and business community representatives, participated in a NAFTA panel titled “The Future of NAFTA: The Stakes for American Agriculture and Business.” The panel took place at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., and was moderated by Neil Herrington, the ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.3 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at 20 percent very poor, 27 percent poor, 34 percent fair, 18 percent good and 1 percent excellent. A low temperature of 26 degrees F was reported in the north eastern region, while a high temperature of 74 degrees was reported in the western region. Statewide temperature differentials ranged ... Read More »

From the NAWG The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) has announced the resignation of former NAWG president and Sharon Springs, Kans. farmer, David Schemm. Schemm has resigned his position to pursue other professional opportunities in his home state of Kansas. “During his time as president of NAWG, David helped move the wheat industry forward, grew its presence on Capitol Hill and improved ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers On Oct. 26, the House took final action on the FY2018 Budget Resolution. With this action, National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) CEO Chandler Goule made the following statements about the importance of a strong farm bill and effective tax reform: “While NAWG appreciates that no reconciliation instructions were included for agriculture, the ... Read More »

From the American Farm Bureau Federation The American Farm Bureau Federation and seven other major farm groups today hailed introduction of bipartisan legislation to improve the Agriculture Risk Coverage program, an important component of the federal agricultural safety net for farmers. Senators Heidi Heitkamp and Joni Ernst are sponsors. Among other things, the bill would prioritize use of data collected ... Read More »

From NASS There were 4.3 days suitable for field work last week. Pasture and range conditions were reported at 25 percent very poor, 31 percent  poor, 30 percent  average, 13 percent good and 1 percent excellent. A low temperature of 23 degrees F was reported in the northeast region, while a high temperature of 77 degrees was reported in the southeast region. Statewide temperature differentials ranged from ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service The value of Washington’s 2016 agricultural production totaled $10.6 billion, down 1 percent from the previous year record high of $10.7 billion. Apples remain the leading agricultural commodity in the state with a 2016 value of $2.39 billion. This is up 3 percent from the previous year, but down 4 percent from the record high ... Read More »

In remarks to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) on Oct. 19, 2017, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) stated that he has talked to farmers and that farmers “do not care” about U.S. in-kind food aid. “I don’t know what farmers Sen. Corker is talking to because I can assure you wheat farmers care a lot about in-kind food aid,” said Dighton, ... Read More »