From the National Agricultural Statistics Service Winter wheat  Washington planted 1.80 million acres of winter wheat in 2023, down 50,000 acres from 2022. Harvested area, at 1.75 million acres, is down 50,000 acres from 2022. Winter wheat production in Washington is 94.5 million bushels, down 23% from last year, with yield estimated at 54 bushels per acre, down 14 bushels ... Read More »

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced this week that the Washington State Department of Transportation has been selected to receive a $72.8 million Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant for capital improvements on the PCC short-line railroad. State funding from the Move Ahead Washington transportation package, as well as local and private contributions, will bring ... Read More »

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the Washington counties of Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Walla Walla, and Whitman suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional. This natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) ... Read More »

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) thank Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Sen. Pete Rickets (R-Neb.) for the introduction of the American Farmers Feed the World Act of 2023 in the U.S. Senate. The bipartisan legislation would restore the original intent of the Food for Peace ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service There were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, down from 6.9 reported the previous week. Western Washington conditions remained dry. Livestock producers were already using stored winter feed. Feed corn was short this year in some western Washington counties, and some fields dried up earlier than normal. Central Washington had dry conditions, but ... Read More »

Last month in Washington, D.C., leaders and staff of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) met with members of the state’s federal delegation during a National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) farm bill fly-in. “D.C. is currently bustling with farm bill talks. We were able to meet with most of our state’s federal delegation and have meaningful conversations about ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a call for nominations to the Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, which advises the Secretary of Agriculture to enhance USDA’s goals for new farming and ranching operations. Members of the public are invited to submit nominations for themselves or other qualified experts by Oct. 10, 2023. Nomination packages should include ... Read More »

From the National Agricultural Statistics Service There were 6.9 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, unchanged from the previous week. Western Washington corn silage and seed potato harvest was in full swing. Final grass cuttings had taken place, and conditions were still dry. Central Washington had consistent hot and dry temperatures. In Yakima County, producers started to plant some fall ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The best-case scenario is that markup of a new farm bill could come by the end of October, said Washington wheat farmer Nicole Berg, past president of the National Association of Wheat Growers. Or, she said, work on the keystone agricultural legislation could spill into next year. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From Reuters Chicago wheat futures this week hit their lowest levels in almost three years, yet relative to demand, exportable global wheat supplies are expected to approach historic minimums by mid-2024. In theory, that news should limit further slippage in world wheat prices, but there is one problem: this is a recurring story that has yet to become reality. Read ... Read More »