Current Issues

On Feb. 26, 2026, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) expressed disagreement regarding the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction in litigation involving the four lower Snake River dams. Overall, the ruling will increase the risk of harm to infrastructure, listed species, and public safety while failing to provide substantiated evidence that ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen Lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers The Legislature has completed its fifth week of the session. On Feb. 9, legislators reached the second major deadline of session which was the fiscal cutoff date. Bills with a fiscal impact had to pass out of the respective budget and transportation committees by that deadline unless they are “Necessary to ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist The 2026 Legislative Session reached its first important deadline on Feb. 4, as policy committee cutoff occurred. Any bills that have not made it out of a policy committee are considered dead and no longer eligible to move forward this year. Legislation not subject to the deadline includes bills that have been passed to fiscal ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Saturday, Jan. 31, marked the 20th day of session, with 40 days left to go. The third week brought another hectic week with the first legislative deadline fast approaching. The first legislative deadline is Feb. 4, which is the policy cut-off deadline. All bills must be passed out of their respective policy committees by this ... Read More »

by Diana Carlen Lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers The legislature has completed the second week of its session; due to the pace and compressed timeline of the short session, however, it feels like we have been in session much longer.  Committees have been busy holding public hearings and passing bills out of committee. Many bills are being continuously amended ... Read More »

By Michelle Hennings Executive Director, Washington Association of Wheat Growers As we enter 2026, I am reminded of how quickly time seems to pass. The past six months have been especially eventful for the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG). Since my previous column, our organization has remained actively engaged in a wide range of initiatives and advocacy efforts. Our ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist On Dec. 23, 2025, Gov. Bob Ferguson released his proposed supplemental operating budget. The supplemental budget plan — Ferguson’s first as governor — is an adjustment to the roughly $78 billion 2025-2027 budget passed by the Legislature last April, which included $9 billion in tax increases over four years. Since Ferguson signed that budget into ... Read More »

By Xianming Chen  USDA-ARS Research Plant Pathologist Based on the weather data of November and December 2025, stripe rust in the 2026 wheat growing season is predicted to be in the upper range of severe epidemic level (40-60% yield loss on susceptible varieties). Using a set of forecast models based on the weather data of these two months, potential yield ... Read More »

As you know, WAWG is a grassroots organization and our growers’ voices are critical when it comes to visiting with legislators. We will be going to Olympia for our annual Olympia Days Jan. 18-20, 2026. We try and meet with at least 50 legislators during our day and a half of visits. We like to have at least three to ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen Lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers While nationally there were significant elections this November, Washington state also had some notable races in an off-year election.  Nine legislative races were on the ballot for members who were appointed to their seats and were running to retain them. Of those nine races, three candidates were running unopposed, two were ... Read More »