From Water Power Magazine By Kurt Miller Northwest Public Power Association For the past five years, I’ve worked as a hydropower advocate, which has given me some great opportunities. For instance, I was a keynote speaker at the Hydropower International Conference in 2022 and CEATI’s Hydropower Conference in 2023. I even graced the January 2023 cover of Hydro Leader Magazine. ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service There were 7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 6.7 days the previous week. Some areas of western Washington experienced dry conditions. Central Washington experienced high winds that dried out the topsoil and caused grasses to start heading out. In Yakima County, there was no precipitation over the past week. The upper ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The potential removal of the lower Snake River dams would have “far-reaching impacts” beyond the Pacific Northwest, according to the leader of a national inland waterways advocacy group. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From the Capital Press A report from an environmental group that claims the lower Snake River dams are a major source of greenhouse gases is “misleading without context,” the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service There were 6.7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 5.1 days suitable the previous week. Western Washington saw a little precipitation. Crops were progressing a bit ahead of schedule. In Whatcom County, blueberries were budding, and raspberries were filling out. Fieldwork started, and grass showed good growth. The Yakima Valley experienced overnight ... Read More »

By Xianming Chen USDA Research Plant Pathologist Over the last 10 days, we were planting spring cereal nurseries and checking winter wheat fields in various locations. So far, we have found stripe rust in our disease monitoring and germplasm screening fields in all locations we have checked. On April 2, we were planting spring wheat and barley at Walla Walla. ... Read More »

By Paul Neiffer FARM CPA Report Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) introduced the Federal Agricultural Risk Management Enforcement Act (FARMER) on April 9. This act tries to enhance participation in the federal crop insurance system by increasing subsidies on coverage at higher levels and making some changes to Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO). The farm sector’s consistent yield areas are usually able ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service There were 5.1 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, down from 5.8 days last week. Western Washington saw a little precipitation. Crops were coming along a bit ahead of schedule. Pasture conditions were normal for this time of year, but there were few animals out because of the wet ground. Central Washington saw some ... Read More »

From agweb.com A reset in agriculture seems to be underway. For 10 straight months, the Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor has tracked the health of the ag economy through the lens of ag economists. The anonymous survey is a gauge of 70 economists from across the country. In March, economists’ views on the ag economy grew weaker, but it’s the erosion ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Final authority to breach the four lower Snake River dams remains with the 535 members of Congress. But agricultural stakeholders, tribes and environmental groups agree on one thing: The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative recently signed by the Biden administration, four Northwest tribes and the states of Oregon and Washington is a pathway to breaching the dams. ... Read More »