From NASS There were 6.7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, down from 7 days reported the previous week. Statewide, average temperatures remained well above normal throughout Washington. Little to no precipitation was reported statewide. Wildfire smoke from fires in central and western Washington impacted air quality in both regions. Western Washington remained unseasonably dry. The dry fall was favorable for late planted ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service The value of Washington’s 2021 agricultural production totaled $10.2 billion, up slightly from the revised previous year value of $10.2 billion. The value of Washington’s crop production in 2021 was $7.21 billion, down 3% from 2020. The value of livestock production in 2021 totaled $3.02 billion, up 9% from the previous year. Apples remain the leading agricultural ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Not quite a month after a national rail strike was averted, the possibility of a walkout has been resurrected. Railroads and 12 labor unions had reached tentative contracts, but now one union has voted against ratifying its agreement. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 6.1 days reported the previous week. Statewide, average temperatures continued to remain well above normal throughout Washington. Little to no precipitation was reported. Light frost was reported in the northeastern corner of the state. Soil moisture and pasture conditions degraded some from the previous week. Wildfire smoke continued to linger ... Read More »

The 2022 Washington Wheat Ambassadors, Tate Nonnemacher and Cadence Zellmer, both from Davenport, Wash., each got to take part in a flight on the Farmland Fox, a series 7 Kitfox light sport plane piloted by Tim Cobb, partner/owner of Farmland Company. During the flight, which took place in September, taking off and landing on a rural airstrip in Lincoln County, ... Read More »

From agweb.com The future of voluntary carbon markets for agriculture is still coming into focus. As such, farmers continue to assess the landscape and weigh their opportunities. Are farmers signing up for carbon programs? Will my existing practices qualify? How much can farmers be paid? Read the answers here. Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service Winter wheat Washington planted 1.85 million acres of winter wheat for 2022, up 100,000 acres from 2021. Harvested area, at 1.80 million acres, is up 110,000 acres from 2021. Winter wheat production in Washington is 122 million bushels, up 7% from last year with yield estimated at 68 bushels per acre, up 26 bushels per acre from 2021. Idaho planted 770,000 ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.1 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, down from 6.8 days reported the previous week. Statewide average temperatures continued to remain well above normal throughout Washington. Moisture received during the previous week helped to maintain soil conditions. Wildfire smoke lingered in much of Eastern Washington. Yellow potatoes were harvested in Skagit County. Soil was quite dry, ... Read More »

Program lets farmers test conservation practices before committing entire operation By Trista Crossley Editor, Wheat Life Producers interested in exploring conservation practices without committing their entire operation have until Oct. 13 to consider a relatively new program offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Environmental Quality Incentives Program-Conservation Incentive Contracts (EQIP-CIC) is meant to fill the gap between ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to invest $8 million to support and expand monitoring of carbon in soil on working agricultural lands as well as assess how climate-smart practices are affecting carbon sequestration. This is part of USDA’s efforts to build out a national soil carbon monitoring network, which was kicked off with soil carbon monitoring on Conservation ... Read More »