By Lori Williams WAWG Outreach Coordinator One issue currently being discussed by the Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ (WAWG) leadership team is submitting a formal request to the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to recognize hard red wheat (HRW) as a separate class for crop insurance purposes. Crop insurance is a critical risk management tool for wheat producers. According to the ... Read More »

Excerpted from an Ecology press release The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has adopted a new water quality rule that safeguards the health of Washington’s people and its economy. The fish consumption rule, as it is widely known, updates Washington’s water quality standards for toxics, establishing how clean the state’s lakes, rivers and marine waters need to be. The standards set pollution limits for businesses and ... Read More »

Pacific Northwest wheat and grain commissions, as well as state wheat grower associations, have learned that the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, confirmed the discovery of glyphosate-resistant wheat plants in a summer fallow field in Eastern Washington. We have been told the plants were not killed after an herbicide application. In a report ... Read More »

With harvest season in full-swing in many parts of the state, the Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Division recently contacted the Washington Association of Wheat Growers in an effort to remind farmers of vehicle size, weight and load restrictions. Citations have recently been issued for overweight grain trucks and farmers are encouraged to review the restrictions. The following was taken from the Commercial ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Dryland wheat farmers in Eastern Washington are reporting above-average yields during this year’s harvest. Juliann Dodds, senior vice president and commercial banking manager team lead at Umpqua Bank in Moses Lake, Wash., said she’s hearing from farmers whose yields are running as high as 100 bushels per acre, instead of the normal yields around 50 to ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Stripe rust pressure this year is “severe to extremely severe” in Pacific Northwest wheat, but most farmers have been able to control it by growing resistant varieties or by applying fungicides. USDA Agricultural Research Service plant geneticist Xianming Chen blames the mild winter, which allowed the rust to survive and develop in winter wheat. “Stripe rust ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Rain and temperature fluctuations are worrying some in the Pacific Northwest wheat industry about sprout damage that could reduce the price farmers receive for their crop. If the weather clears up without additional storms, “then maybe it’s not going to be that big a disaster,” said Camille Steber, USDA ARS research plant molecular geneticist in Pullman, ... Read More »

The past 12 months have brought a poor harvest, drought, fires and fights (the political kind, mostly). Through it all, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ (WAWG) leadership team, executive board and committee chairs and staff, have spent countless hours on the phone participating in conference calls with state agencies and contacting our federal delegation to ask for support on ... Read More »

Between 2010 and 2015, change in inflation-adjusted average farm real estate values (the value of farmland and buildings) varied widely across the 48 contiguous states. The value of farm real estate is expected to change over time to reflect changes in expectations for income streams from future use—including both agriculture and nonagricultural uses. Over 2010-15, the largest state percentage increases ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Agricultural leaders are lauding passage of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2017, which they say fully funds wildfire suppression and assistance to rural counties heavy in federal lands while addressing recent examples of what they describe as government overreach. The $32.1 billion spending bill is $1 billion less than President Barack ... Read More »