From U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are encouraged by news today that the United States and China have agreed on the text of a “Phase One” trade deal that apparently would roll back tariffs and re-open China’s important market for U.S. agricultural imports. ... Read More »

Editor’s note: Benton County wheat grower Nicole Berg was one of the participants on this trip. From U.S. Wheat Associates Of the more than 1.9 million metric tons (MMT) of international food commodities the United States donated in 2018/19, more than 800,000 MMT of it was high-quality milling wheat. Given the important role U.S. agriculture plays in supporting the neediest ... Read More »

High yields in Eastern Washington scuttle farm bill payments for last year’s crop By Trista Crossley The Washington state Farm Service Agency (FSA) office has confirmed that thanks to high yields, Eastern Washington wheat growers who elected the Agriculture Risk Coverage County option (ARC-Co) will not be receiving a payment for their 2018 wheat crop. Only five Washington counties qualified ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates Today’s signing of the renegotiated U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a welcome step toward a final agreement that will provide much needed reassurance for wheat growers and the entire U.S. agricultural industry. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) want to thank U.S. ... Read More »

WAWG is looking for volunteers to attend Olympia Days Jan. 20-22, 2020. We will be making a large number of appointments with various legislators and need county representation to make our meetings effective with clear messaging. Talking points are provided and all meetings have at least 2 grower members and/or staff. Please RSVP to Lori (lori@wawg.org) ASAP so that we ... Read More »

From the USDA Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is opening signup for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) on Dec. 9, 2019. The deadline for agricultural producers to sign up for general CRP is Feb. 28, 2020, while signup for continuous CRP is ongoing. Farmers and ranchers who enroll in CRP receive a yearly rental ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Maia Bellon, the director of Washington’s Department of Ecology, has announced her plans to step down at the end of the year. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

By Trista Crossley While there was much talk of trade during the 2019 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention, the importance of the Columbia-Snake River System was also on growers’ minds. Kristin Meira, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, gave a break-out session on the important role the river system plays in shipping products to market. She said lots of ... Read More »

By Trista Crossley One of the break-out sessions at the 2019 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention last month took a look at what’s happening on the policy front at the national level. Presented by Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), and Josh Tonsager, NAWG vice president of policy and communications, the presentation covered NAWG’s role; production ... Read More »

For Washington wheat growers, the 2019 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention was back on their home turf, taking place last month in Spokane at the Davenport Grand Hotel. Approximately 500 growers, agency representatives and industry supporters gathered to hear top notch speakers; establish guidance on industry concerns; and learn the latest on herbicide resistance, 2018 Farm Bill programs and other topics ... Read More »