From the Capital Press A bill stemming partly from the Washington Department of Transportation’s refusal to fund county weed-control districts was signed Monday by Gov. Jay Inslee. House Bill 1355 clarifies that state agencies must pay weed-control assessments. The transportation department had declined, an example that farm groups worried would spread to other public landowners. Read the rest of the ... Read More »

From U.S. Wheat Associates On March 21, 2021, Canadian Pacific (CP) Railways announced a $25 billion plan to merge with Kansas City Southern (KCS), calling it a “transformative” remake of the freight-rail industry. The proposed new railroad would be the first U.S.-Mexico-Canada-linked rail line. Not to be out-done, Canadian National Railway (CN) began talks with KCS in late April, saying ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.8 days suitable for field work, up from 6.7 days reported the previous week. Statewide temperatures in Washington for the week ending May 9 were mostly below normal. In western Washington, planting was ahead of schedule for most producers. Planted crops looked good due to the nice weather. In Clallam and Jefferson counties, corn was planted ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The Biden administration has released a report outlining its vision to conserve and restore land, water and wildlife with recommendations for locally led, voluntary efforts to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. The 24-page report outlining the administration’s “America the Beautiful” initiative recognizes the contributions of farmers, ranchers, forest owners, private landowners and ... Read More »

The National Association of Wheat Growers joined the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and more than 300 agricultural organizations to call on Congress to invest $11.5 billion in the federal agricultural research infrastructure at colleges of agriculture. In the letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees, the groups wrote, “Modern agricultural research ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Up to 146,000 acres of the Northwest — much of it farmland — could be converted to solar production by 2050, according to a recent study. In addition, wind power production could directly impact nearly 8,800 acres. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 6.7 days suitable for field work, up from 6.5 days reported the previous week. Statewide temperatures in Washington for the week ending May 2 were above normal. In western Washington, the weather was great for farming. Some field tillage and planting were done due to the dry soils. Cover crops harvested by dairymen were lighter than ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers Last night, Pres. Joseph Biden delivered his remarks before a Joint Session of Congress. National Association of Wheat growers (NAWG) CEO Chandler Goule provided the following statement in response: “While the president addressed many issues of importance to the American people, we are eager to hear more about agricultural-related policies, specifically how we ... Read More »

From Progressive Farmer While Senate Democrats are confident about the ability to get a bipartisan agricultural climate bill passed, the rift remains with Republicans over USDA’s authority to spend money on a carbon sequestration program without getting approval from Congress first. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist On Sunday night, the final gavel came down, and the 2021 Legislative Session adjourned Sine Die. It was a session unlike any other, held almost entirely remotely and with the campus closed to the public due to the pandemic. While people could testify remotely, oftentimes, people were not able to testify because of the high ... Read More »