From the National Agricultural Statistics Service Based on May 1, 2020, conditions, production of winter wheat in Washington was forecast at 118 million bushels, down 1 percent from 2019. Yield was expected to average 72.0 bushels per acre, up 2.0 bushels from the previous year. Growers planted an estimated 1.7 million acres in the fall of 2019, down 50,000 acres from ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is collecting data from approximately 50,000 farmers and ranchers for its annual Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). The survey looks at all aspects of U.S. agricultural production, the well-being of farm households, farm finances, chemical usage, and various farm production characteristics. The survey also collects detailed information on production practices, ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.9 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up slightly from 5.8 the previous week. There was rainfall early in the week followed by sunshine and warmer temperatures. Good planting progress was reported statewide. In western Washington, rainfall was followed by three days of record-breaking temperatures in the mid 80s, allowing quite a bit of ... Read More »

From Progressive Farmer Armed with a planting survey from March, USDA is about to issue a new round of supply estimates that will be matched with coronavirus-damaged demand estimates for both old-crop and new-crop grains. USDA’s resulting price estimates are not expected to be good news for producers. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

Last week, WAWG’s AMMO program partnered with NRCS to host a webinar, covering topics of timelines, the new ranking tool, changes to CSP and EQIP, eligibility requirements, payment schedules, and more. A recording of the link can be found HERE. We apologize for the sound quality, it does improve a few minutes in. Presentation materials can be found HERE. We ... Read More »

From Dr. Xianming Chen Today, I was checking stripe rust in our winter wheat experimental fields around Pullman (Whitman County in Washington), and found stripe rust on susceptible check varieties in two of the three locations. This is the first observation of stripe rust of this season in the Palouse region. The same fields were checked on April 22 and ... Read More »

From NASS There were 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, down from 6.1 the previous week. Intermittent rainfall from a series of low pressure systems passed through the state and brought much needed rainfall. Crop producers wrapped up seeding spring grains and made good progress planting row crops ahead of the much needed rainfall. Along the coast, ... Read More »

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today applauded the announcement that agricultural producers, for the first time, are now eligible for the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs. “America’s farmers, ranchers, and producers need the same help that other American businesses need during this unprecedented time,” said Secretary Perdue. “This significant new ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. On April 22, 2020, we celebrated our planet by highlighting what we can do to protect it. The theme for Earth Day 2020 is climate action. The enormous challenge of action on climate change has distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for ... Read More »

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress last week that Canada and Mexico have taken measures necessary to comply with their commitments under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and that the agreement will enter into force on July 1, 2020.  Following that notification to Congress, the U.S. became the third country to notify the other parties that it had completed its ... Read More »