From NASS There were 5.4 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 6.5 days the previous week. Western Washington experienced a few dry days allowing some late cuttings of grass hay and other crop harvesting to take place. The weather created some challenges during the year that left mixed results in Clallam, Jefferson, King, Skagit and Snohomish ... Read More »

From Jon Wyss, State Executive Director Washington State Farm Service Agency Washington State Farm Service Agency (FSA) staff has worked with Washington, D.C., staff to obtain approval to allow fire-impacted Washington producers who want to utilize Conservation Reserve Program Emergency Haying and Grazing for longer than 90 days to do so, not to exceed Dec. 31. This would apply to ... Read More »

From Crosscut.com Tuesday’s election wasn’t a blowout victory for Democrats in Washington state. Yet it looks as if Democrats may gain a few seats in the state Legislature — and even those modest gains could help propel some progressive priorities over the finish line, lawmakers said Wednesday. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Today, the Washington State Supreme Court issued its decision concerning the constitutionality of RCW 49.46.130(2)(g), the statute exempting agricultural workers from the overtime pay requirement set out in the Washington Minimum Wage Act, ch. 49.46 RCW. In a 5-4 decision, the Washington State Supreme Court sided with the class of affected agricultural workers and held ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist While ballots are still being counted, early results from the Nov. 3, 2020, election suggest that a combination of wins for both Republicans and Democrats even out to Democrats slightly increasing majorities in the both the state Senate and House of Representatives. However, the final election results will determine whether the legislature is more progressive. ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.5 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up from 5.8 days the previous week. Western Washington experienced near freezing temperatures and a bit of rain. In San Juan County, most CSA operations scrambled to recover the remaining field crop harvests before the hard frost. Livestock were on cool season resurgent grasses and stockpiled feed ... Read More »

Report could have major implications for dam debate From Northwest River Partners Newly published research has unveiled remarkable insight into the survival rates of Chinook salmon populations along the North American West Coast, highlighting a dramatic omission in the way such data has been interpreted for over two decades. The peer-reviewed research entitled, “A Synthesis of the Coast-wide Decline in ... Read More »

Last month, the governors of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana signed a letter to collaboratively advance the goals of the Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force and work together to rebuild Columbia River salmon and steelhead stocks. The letter does not mention the lower Snake River dams or breaching them. “We recognize the relevance of the recent release of the Columbia ... Read More »

From the Farm Service Agency Agricultural producers can now make elections and enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2021 crop year. The sign-up period opened Oct. 13. These key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) safety-net programs help producers weather fluctuations in either revenue or price for certain crops, and more than ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 5.9 days the previous week. Western Washington suffered from a challenging autumn, and producers struggled to harvest forage crops. Between summer replanting, cool temperatures and smoke, crops did not mature on their typical timeline. Corn harvest was immature. Some corn fields had blown-down stalks that ... Read More »