From NASS There were 5.1 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 4.1 days last week. In western Washington, producers completed some fieldwork between rain showers. In San Juan County, moisture levels were slightly below previous years, but cold conditions slowed fieldwork and grass growth. Central Washington continued to see cold temperatures and had some rainfall. Temperatures warmed up ... Read More »

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) today praised the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for submitting a counter-notification on India’s wheat and rice subsidies to the WTO April 6, 2023. The filing on the WTO website can be seen here. Like another filing on the same commodities in 2018, this U.S. ... Read More »

From the Capital Press There’s something fishy about the “mediation” taking place at the White House. This mediation, which is held in secret, is an effort by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to come up with a plan for the four lower Snake River dams. Read the rest of the article ... Read More »

The signup for the general Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that started Feb. 27 will end on April 7, 2023. Producers interested in offering new land for CRP or to re-enroll land that is scheduled to expire this fall, may submit an offer in this signup. By April 7, at least one eligible producer on the farm must sign the worksheet ... Read More »

From NASS There were 4 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington. Central Washington had a very cold start to spring. Very little precipitation fell since the year began, and ranchers were not able to turn their livestock out because the grass was not growing. Some spraying occurred to prepare for spring seeding. In Okanogan County, only the orchardists were out ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist The Washington State Legislature has completed the 12th week of the legislative session. Friday marked the 84th day of the 2023 Legislative Session. There are 22 days left of the scheduled legislative session. The fourth legislative deadline has come and gone — bills needed to have been approved by their respective policy committees by Wednesday, ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced appointees who will serve on the Washington FSA state committee. Members of the FSA state committee are appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and are responsible for the oversight of farm programs and county committee operations, resolving program delivery appeals from the agriculture community, maintaining cooperative relations ... Read More »

The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) joined with other Pacific Northwest agricultural stakeholders in sending a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, outlining concerns over increasing rhetoric at the federal level on breaching the lower Snake River dams and highlighting the importance of the entire Columbia-Snake River System to the U.S. “… We are increasingly concerned that the USG ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Washington Senate Democrats propose funding studies on replacing the electricity and irrigation benefits from the four Lower Snake River dams. Read the article here. Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist March 25 marked the 76th day of the 2023 Legislative Session. Policy committees are busy voting on bills passed by the opposite chamber. The regular session is scheduled to end on April 23. Before then, legislators have several key deadlines to meet: they must pass policy bills out of the opposite chamber by March 29 ... Read More »