Federal

Agricultural producers and landowners can apply for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Grasslands sign-up until Aug. 20, 2021. This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) updated sign-up options to provide greater incentives for producers and increase the program’s conservation and climate benefits, including setting a minimum rental rate and identifying two national priority zones. The CRP Grassland sign-up is ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers Earlier today, the U.S. Senate passed a historic infrastructure bill after several months of negotiations. The roughly $1 trillion bipartisan bill was passed by a vote of 69 to 30, receiving strong bipartisan support, and includes $550 billion in new investments in critical infrastructure. In addition to the new infrastructure funding, this legislation ... Read More »

From smallgrains.wsu.edu With wheat harvest starting, the crop year 2021 has been one of, if not the most challenging years we’ve experienced here in eastern Washington and across the Pacific Northwest mostly because of a record dry spring, record heat, and let us not forget the multiple frost events this spring. This year has been a learning experience for myself ... Read More »

From agweb.com A month after President Biden stood in front of the White House announcing an infrastructure deal, language of the $1 trillion bipartisan bill defeated the obstacles of Washington and made its way through the Senate. The bipartisan U.S. Senate members cleared a procedural vote on a possible infrastructure bill Wednesday with a 67-32 vote. It marks the first procedural ... Read More »

From the Risk Management Agency The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its Risk Management Agency (RMA) will authorize Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs) to extend deadlines for premium and administrative fee payments, defer and waive the resulting interest accrual and allow other flexibilities to help farmers and ranchers through widespread drought conditions in many parts of the nation. Producers now ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The record-shattering heat wave in the Pacific Northwest has prompted fishing and conservation groups to ask a federal court to order more spill from dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers next spring to aid the migration of salmon and steelhead to the Pacific Ocean. Read the rest of the story here. Read More »

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is authorizing emergency procedures to help agricultural producers impacted by extreme drought conditions. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is working with crop insurance companies to streamline and accelerate the adjustment of losses and issuance of indemnity payments to crop insurance policyholders in impacted areas. These new crop insurance flexibilities are part of USDA’s ... Read More »

From the Capital Press A bipartisan group of 21 Northwest lawmakers called on President Joe Biden to prioritize a long-running effort to renegotiate a 60-year-old treaty that governs how the United States and Canada share the waters of the Columbia River Basin. In a Tuesday letter to Biden, Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and ... Read More »

Starting July 1, 2021, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) will formally launch its new Industry Partners Program (IPP).  Syngenta, Ardent Mills, Farm Credit Council and FMC will be welcomed as members to the organization through the IPP, where they will help bring a unique perspective to NAWG. “We are grateful to the four members who have shown their support for ... Read More »

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making improvements to crop insurance to better enable agricultural producers to manage risk on their operations.  Specifically, USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is adding new options for producers of dry beans, dry peas, and small grains, such as wheat. RMA is making these changes through three Final Rules, which posted this month on ... Read More »