By Tim Murray (Reprinted from 2018) High-temperature adult-plant resistance, frequently referred to as HTAP resistance, is used widely in PNW winter and spring wheat varieties to help reduce the impact of stripe rust. This time of year, when we’re transitioning into warmer spring temperatures, is when I often get the question “how warm does it need to be for HTAP ... Read More »
By Ben Tindall, in the Washington State Standard As the 2026 Washington state legislative session came to a close, there was at least one thing worth noting: some of the worst anti-farm ideas introduced this year did not make it across the finish line. That is the good news. The bad news is that stopping bad bills is not the same ... Read More »
By Dr. Xianming Chen USDA-ARS Since the last update on March 19, stripe rust of wheat has been developing fast in the Pacific Northwest, and many winter wheat fields have been applied with fungicides at the herbicide timing. We have been planting spring cereal nurseries and collecting stripe rust data from winter nurseries at some of the experimental fields. On April ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Gov. Ferguson wrapped up bill action and signed the Operating Supplemental Budget, Transportation Supplemental Budget and the Capital Supplemental Budget into law the first week of April. All budgets were signed with partial vetoes. The Operating Supplemental Budget (SB 5998) included the following notable vetoes: Clean Energy Permitting/Planning: This section appropriates money for grants to ... Read More »
On March 31, 2026, the National Agricultural Statistics Service released the 2026 Prospective Plantings report. Washington growers report planting 1,850,000 acres of winter wheat, unchanged from 2025. Spring wheat is projected to be 450,000 acres down 5% from 2025, which was at 475,000 acres. Barley acres are up just slightly from 2025 at 70,000. All wheat planted area for 2026 ... Read More »
By Dr. Xianming Chen On March 18, we were checking wheat fields in Franklin, Benton, Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, and Whitman counties. Wheat plants ranged from Feekes 3 to 6. Stripe rust was found in all counties. In Franklin County, stripe rust has developed quickly since the field check on March 3, forming rust foci (hot spots) of several feet in diameter. In Horse ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist The Legislature adjourned on the 60th day of the 2026 Legislative Session on March 12 at around 8:30 p.m. In the final week of the session, the Legislature adopted the supplemental 2025-2027 operating, capital, and transportation budgets. The Legislature also spent the final week passing bills. In total, the Legislature passed 267 bills during the ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist With less than a week remaining in the 60-day session as of March 7, the 2026 legislative session enters the home stretch. The Legislature reached two major milestones this past week. The first was March 2, the last day to pass opposite chamber bills from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation ... Read More »
By Dr. Xianming Chen USDA-ARS Research Plant Pathologist Wheat stripe rust is forecasted to be in the upper range of severe epidemic (40-60% yield losses on susceptible varieties) in the 2026 growing season for the eastern Pacific Northwest, based on the predication models using the weather data from November 2025 to February 2026. The models predict highly susceptible varieties to have 55.8% yield ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Washington State legislators have completed their seventh week of work in Olympia as of Feb. 28. There are less than two weeks remaining in the legislative session. The Legislature passed a major cutoff Feb. 25, the last day to pass policy bills from the opposite chamber out of policy committees. The next major cutoff is ... Read More »
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