The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) encourages all farmers, ranchers, and FSA program participants to take part in the Garfield and Asotin County Committee election nomination process. FSA’s county committees are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA and allow grassroots input and local administration of federal farm programs. Committees are comprised of locally ... Read More »

By Xianming Chen Last week, we completed collecting the stripe rust data in our germplasm screening nurseries of winter crops and took the first time of stripe rust data of the spring crop nurseries at Mount Vernon in northwestern Washington (Skagit County). As always for this location under natural infection, wheat stripe rust was severe, up to 100% severity on ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.3 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, down from 7 days recorded the previous week. Western Washington received a couple of days of rain which helped promote grass growth in pastures. Central Washington had a good week of farming. Most of the first cutting of hay had been cut and baled. There was low moisture, so ... Read More »

From the Capital Press U.S. Wheat Associates, the overseas marketing arm for American wheat farmers, recently held its South and Southeast Asia Marketing Conference for the first time in 12 years. During the conference, industry members establish or strengthen relationships with buyers and looks for opportunities for collaboration to increase the use of U.S. wheat classes, said Joe Sowers, regional ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Washington’s carbon fee rose by 15% at the state’s second cap-and-trade auction, the Department of Ecology reported Wednesday, and is high enough to turn on an emergency valve to contain energy costs. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, up from 6.8 days recorded the previous week. Western Washington saw cooler temperatures than the rest of the state, but statewide, it was a dry and warm week. The dry weather did not help topsoil or pasture conditions. Skagit County started seeing the first signs of heat stress on ... Read More »

From agriculture.com The Senate and House Agriculture committees are weeks or even months away from drafting the 2023 farm bill, a remarkably late start for what is always a detailed and time-consuming process. The new farm bill would be the most expensive ever and is likely to be completed after the Sept. 30 expiration of the current farm law, if ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The vast majority of salmon are getting up, over, around and through the four lower Snake River dams even as legal challenges and political battles swirl around them, according to the federal agency in charge of monitoring fish health. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

Today, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Sackett v. EPA that narrows the extent of federal jurisdiction over bodies of water under the Clean Water Act. “NAWG (the National Association of Wheat Growers) is pleased with the rule the Supreme Court issued today that rejected the confusing and expansive ‘significant nexus’ test that broadened the jurisdiction of the Clean ... Read More »

Reprinted with permission from the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry Minority Blog Alongside historic inflation across the broader U.S. economy, the highest in over 40 years, farmers and ranchers across the country experienced their own version of inflation: soaring land values, cash rents, fertilizer, fuel, chemical, animal feed, machinery, and interest expenses, among many others. The U.S. ... Read More »