From the National Agricultural Statistics Service Western Washington saw a cold snap in the first half of the month. There was less precipitation than normal, but most fields were wet and oversaturated with the snowmelt. In central Washington, there was significant rain and snow. Snow was still on the ground, but temperatures rose above freezing daily, and the snow settled. ... Read More »

Early Sunday morning, Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ Executive Director Michelle Hennings sat down for an interview with Fox News to stress how critical the dams are for the transportation of wheat and other products to export terminals in Portland. She made sure to stress that this is not just a local issue, but a national issue, as products from ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen Lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers Sunday, Jan. 28, marked the 21st day of the legislative session. We have now completed three weeks of session and are more than a third of the way done. The number of new bills being introduced daily is dropping in volume as the first legislative deadline is fast approaching, and new ... Read More »

Reforms supported by the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) were part of the final rules issued by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that strengthen its power to act during rail service emergencies. Proposed by the STB in 2022, the regulations for “expedited relief in service emergencies” address deficiencies in previous emergency service order rules.  Read the rest of the ... Read More »

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) has announced a hearing titled “Exposing President Biden’s Plan to Dismantle the Snake River Dams and the Negative Impacts to the U.S,” scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live-streamed online at https://energycommerce.house.gov/. “The Columbia River System and the ... Read More »

From the Capital Press For every 100 farmers Jon Paul Driver talks to, about four reach out to him for help afterward. “Everyone is struggling one way or another, whether you have three sheep or 1,000 acres of tree fruit,” Driver told the Capital Press. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

by Diana Carlen Lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers During the second week of the legislative session, the House of Representatives and Senate were busy holding public hearings, passing bills out of committee, and some floor action. New bills continue to be introduced. Over 1,100 new bills have been filed in both chambers combined this session. Less than two weeks remain ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The next farm bill is high on lawmakers’ list of  priorities, but Congress must clear the path in order to make progress, according to the National Association of Wheat Growers. “With there being a couple fiscal cliffs in front of us, there’s a need to pass another stopgap spending measure – that does take precedent, just ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service All wheat planted in Washington totaled 2.30 million acres, down 1% from 2022. Harvested area, at 2.24 million acres, is down 1% from the previous year. Production totaled 113 million bushels, down 21% from 2022. Yield is estimated at 50.5 bushels per acre, down 12.9 bushels from the previous year. In Idaho, all wheat ... Read More »

From farmdocdaily.illinois.edu Because the 2018 Farm Bill was extended, farmers will have the same commodity title choices in 2024 as they have since 2019.  These include the Price Loss Coverage (PLC), Agricultural Risk Coverage at the county level (ARC-CO), and ARC at the individual level (ARC-IC) programs. For the first time, the effective reference prices in 2024 for corn ($4.01) ... Read More »