From NASS There were 7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 5.8 days the previous week. Western Washington saw warmer temperatures and improved pasture growth. Spring planted crops emerged, and grass growth was noticeable. Berry farmers laid out irrigation piping, and newly planted strawberries emerged. Central Washington also saw warmer temperatures, and spring work was underway. Grass was ... Read More »

By Dr. Xianming Chen On April 26 and 27, we were planting spring cereal nurseries and taking the first notes of the winter nurseries at Mount Vernon, Wash. The winter plants were at middle jointing stage (Feekes 6 on average). Wheat stripe rust was up to 80% severity on susceptible varieties. Barley stripe rust was up to 40% severity. The ... Read More »

By U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse and Cathy McMorris Rodgers Special to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Last month, President Biden signaled his support for tearing out four federal hydroelectric dams that are integral to energy reliability, navigation, and irrigation in the Pacific Northwest. Here’s our message to the president: Come visit our communities and see the river system with your own eyes ... Read More »

National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) President and Klamath Falls, Ore., wheat farmer Brent Cheyne, testified in front of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit where he joined the “Producer Perspectives on the 2023 Farm Bill” hearing. Cheyne highlighted NAWG’s primary farm bill priorities, including the importance of maintaining and enhancing crop insurance, both ... Read More »

After peaking at 6.8 million farms in 1935, the number of U.S. farms and ranches fell sharply through the early 1970s. Rapidly falling farm numbers in the mid-20th century reflect the growing productivity of agriculture, increased mechanization, and increased nonfarm employment opportunities. Since 1982, the number of U.S. farms has continued to decline, but much more slowly. In 2022, there ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 5.4 days last week. Western Washington saw cool weather, and slow pasture growth continued. Central Washington had a wet and cold week that was too wet for seeding and too cold for growing. Yakima County continued to see colder-than-normal April temperatures with overcast skies and rain. Early ... Read More »

From the Capital Press An Eastern Washington senator Wednesday cast a series of “no” votes on popular bipartisan tax breaks to protest cap-and-trade surcharges on fuel used to grow and transport farm goods. Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, said he normally supports tax cuts, but complained that cap-and-trade’s tax on emissions from fossil fuels wasn’t supposed to apply to agriculture and ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service Wheat producers in Washington are estimated to have 2.24 million total acres planted to wheat in 2023, down 4% from last year. Winter wheat planted acres are expected to total 1.80 million acres for this year, down 3% from 2022. Spring wheat area planted are estimated at 440,000 acres, down 7% from last year. ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Democrats are keeping alive proposals to raise property taxes and taxes on most real estate sales as House and Senate budget writers negotiate an operating budget before the session ends Sunday. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 5.1 days last week. Central Washington had an active weather week. It rained and snowed for a few days, and temperatures were colder than usual. Grass was still not growing and was now about three weeks behind due to the late snow and cool temperatures. Cattlemen turned ... Read More »