From Bloomberg American farmers have a message for the Agriculture Department: Fill the empty chairs plaguing your local offices. A wave of retirements and an inability to keep pace with private-sector salaries have caused staffing to plunge at key offices. The Farm Service Agency, which provides front-line help to farmers nationwide, now has 2,000 fewer workers than it did in ... Read More »

In a letter to congressional leadership, more than 300 agriculture, environment, academic, infrastructure and other stakeholder groups asked Congress to reaffirm federal pesticide pre-emption on labeling and packaging. Failing to do so, the groups warn, could hold disastrous consequences for food security, the environment, public health, vital infrastructure and other uses where pesticides provide important societal benefits. The letter, which ... Read More »

From the High Plains Journal When my daughters were growing up, they were very active in 4-H and would show livestock we raised on our property in Benton County. To help develop their handling skills, the girls would put harnesses on the lambs and walk them on the sidewalks around town. This drew many curious looks, and with surprising frequency, ... Read More »

From NASS There were 3.5 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, down from 4 days reported the previous week. Colder than normal temperatures were reported statewide. Little to no precipitation was reported. Agricultural activity slowed as the 2022 grain corn harvest wrapped up. Western Washington was dry with freezing temperatures reported throughout the week. In central Washington, Okanogan County was ... Read More »

From CNN America faces a growing risk of a crippling national freight rail strike in two weeks. The rank-and-file members of the nation’s largest rail union, which represents the industry’s conductors, rejected a tentative labor deal with freight railroads, the union announced Monday. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

The 2022 Farm Service Agency County Committee Elections began on Nov. 7, 2022, when ballots were mailed to eligible voters. The deadline to return ballots to local FSA offices, or to be postmarked, is Dec. 5, 2022. County committee members are an important component of the operations of FSA and provide a link between the agricultural community and USDA. Farmers ... Read More »

Two new high school seniors have been selected to represent Washington wheat farmers as ambassadors for the upcoming year: Shaley Tiegs of Fairfield and Angelina Widman of Rosalia. Tiegs and Widman were selected after a written application process that included submitting a short introductory video. The ambassadors will represent Washington wheat farmers at various civic and community events and will ... Read More »

From NASS There were 4 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington, down from 4.3 days reported the previous week. A strong weather system moved out of northwest Washington. Dry conditions and much colder temperatures moved into the region. Most of the fall harvest was complete. There was still a little bit of corn for grain in the fields in east ... Read More »

Last month, Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG), joined several other commodity representatives in a roundtable discussion in Wenatchee with U.S. secretary of transportation, Pete Buttigieg, during his swing through the Pacific Northwest. Also participating were Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).  The group discussed transportation, trade and the high cost ... Read More »

From U.S. Wheat Associates Wheat growers do not need a USDA report in one hand and a slide rule in the other to conclude that escalating production costs are outpacing increases in crop revenue. Nor do they need an economics degree to locate the heart of the matter. “The numbers we are putting in are racing past the numbers we ... Read More »