Current Issues

A quick glance at the Market Facilitation Program

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced details of actions the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will take to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation by foreign nations: USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) will administer the Market Facilitation Program (MFP) to provide payments to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean, and wheat producers starting ... Read More »

Court decision leaves state responsible for fixing culverts

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist On June 11, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 4-4 decision in what is known as the “Culvert Case.” The Culvert Case involves a 17-year battle over who pays to install or replace stream culverts where salmon are blocked. The effect of the tie decision means that the lower court decision stands, requiring Washington ... Read More »

WAWG spends week in DC highlighting state’s ag industry

Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ (WAWG) President Marci Green and WAWG Executive Director Michelle Hennings were in Washington, D.C., last month to take part in the WSU/WSDA Taste of Washington D.C. Trip, which showcased the Evergreen State’s agricultural industry to Congress. As part of the trip, Hennings and Green were also able to lobby policymakers during a critical time in ... Read More »

House ag chair visits with Eastern Washington farmers

By Trista Crossley Mike Conaway (R-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) spent Wednesday morning talking about the 2018 Farm Bill, trade and market access program funding with Eastern Washington agricultural stakeholders during a breakfast meeting in Spokane, Wash. Representing the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) at the breakfast were Marci Green, ... Read More »

Falling number appears in wheat, not as ‘massive’ as 2016

From the Capital Press Roughly half of falling number tests in the Spokane office of the state grain inspection program so far have been below the industry standard of 300, says Scott Steinbacher, Eastern Washington regional manager. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

WAWG in the news

As talk continued throughout the media regarding the administration’s proposed $12 billion trade mitigation effort, media outlets across Washington state have reached out to the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) to hear what the wheat industry thinks. Michelle Hennings, WAWG executive director, and Marci Green, WAWG president, both participated in interviews recently. To hear Hennings interview with King5 News, ... Read More »

Wheat organizations continue to support end to trade war as administration offers help for farmers

From NAWG and USW The Trump Administration announced today that it would provide $12 billion to help farmers cope with the results of the current trade dispute ignited by new U.S. tariffs. U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are glad that the administration recognizes farming as a risky business and acknowledges that farmers need ... Read More »

Outlook ‘cautiously optimistic’ for low falling number wheat

From the Capital Press USDA research plant molecular geneticist Camille Steber says she is cautiously optimistic about the prospects of falling number in this year’s Pacific Northwest wheat crop. Steber is testing wheat samples for susceptibility to the starch damage problem. Falling number is a test that measures wheat quality. Low falling number is caused when the enzyme alpha amylase ... Read More »

East comes West for harvest

Over the weekend, Josh Tonsager, National Association of Wheat Growers’ (NAWG) vice president of policy and communications, spent time down in Benton County with NAWG Secretary/Treasurer Nicole Berg helping out with wheat harvest. Josh also got a tour of the grain elevator and learned all about wheat grading, segregation, Pacific Northwest and U.S. transportation and how trade policy affects the ... Read More »

A primer on the China tariffs

Confused about what the Chinese tariff mean? Here’s a quick primer published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Read More »