From the Capital Press A House bill to require publicly funded projects to benefit salmon did not have enough support Monday to pass the Senate Ways and Means Committee, blocking the legislation, which was opposed by farm groups. House Bill 1117 was scheduled for a vote by the Senate committee, but was skipped over. Committee Chairwoman Christine Rolfes, D-Bainbridge Island, ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist With less than two weeks to go until session adjourns on March 10, we are on the home stretch of this year’s 60-day session. Feb. 28 marked another cutoff deadline where all bills needed to be voted out of the opposite chamber’s fiscal committee to remain under consideration. House Releases Proposed Supplemental Capital Budget Last ... Read More »

National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) Vice President and Paterson, Wash., farmer Nicole Berg testified in front of the House Agriculture Committee today in a hearing to review the 2018 Farm Bill with a focus on Title I programs. Berg highlighted key improvements made during the 2018 Farm Bill and how those programs work for wheat farmers. During the testimony, ... Read More »

From the Capital Press A Senate Democrat warned Thursday that a salmon recovery bill moving through the Legislature would repeat Gov. Jay Inslee’s mistake of not consulting with farmers before proposing riparian buffers. House Bill 1117 calls for Inslee and tribes to develop riparian buffer standards for Western Washington cities and counties. Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-Shoreline, said the same process ... Read More »

From NASS Statewide temperatures in Washington for the month of February were above normal. In Western Washington, early February was wet and cold. Late February transitioned to warmer temperatures throughout the district. In San Juan County, early blooming perennials and some fruit trees were budding out. Livestock was on stockpiled feed, while most pastures suffered from excess moisture. Most fall-planted ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Washington lawmakers are considering delegating broad powers to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to write salmon-protection rules, requiring all publicly funded projects to have a “net ecological gain.” Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Friday marked the 40th day of the 2022 Legislative Session. On Feb. 15, the Legislature reached an important milestone—the deadline to pass bills out of their house of origin. This meant that House bills had to be voted out of the House and Senate bills had to be voted out of the Senate by that ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The University of California-Davis is leading a $15 million, five-year research project to accelerate wheat breeding to meet new climate realities and train a new generation of plant breeders. A USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant will create a coordinated consortium of 41 wheat breeders and researchers from 22 institutions in 20 states. Researchers ... Read More »

The ARC/PLC deadline is quickly approaching. Failure to make a valid election and enrollment for the 2022 program year by March 15, 2022, will result in ineligibility for the 2022 crop year payment. To complete election and enrollment, all signatures must be submitted by the March 15 deadline. Important Note: There was some confusion in a previous announcement that if ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Friday marked the 34th day of this 60-day legislative session, and we have passed two key cut-off dates. The cut-off dates guide the session and help to whittle the thousands of bills that are introduced down to the few hundred pieces of legislation that may actually pass into law. Last week saw the passing of ... Read More »