Federal

From the National Association of Wheat Growers On July 16, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit hearing titled, “Financing Farm Operations: The Importance of Credit and Risk Management.” This hearing focused on the severe downturn in the agricultural economy, with witnesses drawing direct parallels to the 1980s farm crisis. The central message was that ... Read More »

From world-grain.com One hundred miles east of Denver and at 5,350 feet above sea level, Ben Palen’s hard red winter wheat crop is a low-carbon project on a large scale. Planted across 6,300 acres of land owned by Palen, his wife Leslie Hammer-Palen and two other family farms, it’s one-half blueprint, one-half labor of love long in the making for ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Farmer sentiment weakened in June, and a major reason appeared to be a cloudy outlook on exports, according to the latest edition of the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. “I think it’s policy uncertainty,” said Michael Langemeier, director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture, in an online analysis. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

Spring wheat growers have until Aug. 1 to put their entries in for the National Wheat Yield Contest, however, it is better to get them in ahead of time.  Growers who have not entered the contest in a couple of years will need to create an account on the new website, wheatfoundation.org/wheat-yield-contest/. Once an account has been created, growers need ... Read More »

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced on July 9 that agricultural producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can now apply for $16 billion in assistance through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program (SDRP). To expedite the implementation of SDRP, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is delivering assistance in two stages. This first ... Read More »

From the East Oregonian “We are pleased to see the Trump administration step back from any actions that might lead to the potential breaching of the lower Snake River dams,” said Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. “The MOU was flawed from the beginning when it was negotiated in secret and excluded many of the ... Read More »

The White House caught wind of WAWG Executive Director Michelle Henning’s statement yesterday about revoking the prior administration’s agreement on the Columbia River Basin and posted it to their website: Washington Association of Wheat Growers, Michelle Hennings, Executive Director: “The livelihood of Washington wheat growers and rural communities depends on their ability to utilize key benefits from the Columbia River ... Read More »

The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) applauds today’s Presidential Memorandum revoking the Dec. 14, 2023, Memorandum of Understanding filed by the Biden administration.  “We appreciate the efforts of the Trump administration to ensure that the dams remain intact while protecting the integrity of the river system and salmon populations. Washington’s wheat industry relies on the continued operation of dams ... Read More »

From Farm Policy News Reuters’ Julie Ingwersen and Leah Douglas reported that “analysts voiced concerns this week about the integrity of U.S. Department of Agriculture reports after the agency delayed a report and excluded findings that point to tariffs as a reason for a forecasted increase in the agricultural trade deficit, according to Reuters interviews with four analysts.” Read the ... Read More »

From Successful Farming/agriculture.com Senate Republicans will spend the coming weeks trying to agree on changes to President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. In this week’s episode of Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, Clinton and George W. Bush administration ag secretaries, Dan Glickman and Mike Johanns, were asked about how reconciliation elements may change in the Senate and the fate of the traditional rural-urban ... Read More »