Federal

From USDA U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of the Chief Economist has published a detailed accounting of how estimated damage from trade disruptions was calculated for its support package for farmers announced on July 25, 2019. USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist developed an estimate of gross trade damages for ... Read More »

From U.S. Wheat Associates There is renewed hope this week that the United States and Japan are making good progress toward a trade agreement that we hope will ensure U.S. wheat can continue competing with Canadian and Australian wheat based on quality, variety and value. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From the Capital Press In the wake of the discovery of genetically engineered wheat in Washington state, farmers still have questions, and lots of them. In June, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced it was investigating GE wheat found in a fallow field. APHIS expects the current case to follow a timeline similar to previous cases, which lasted ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The U.S. wheat industry is reacting with disappointment after President Donald Trump said that Japan, their No. 1 customer, doesn’t really want to buy their grain. Read the entire article here. Read More »

By Trista Crossley As the debate around breaching the lower Snake River dams continues, the Washington state agricultural industry brought more than 3 dozen state legislators and aides on a boat tour last week in an effort to demonstrate how important the dams are to the region’s economy. Legislators boarded the boat at the Port of Kennewick. While headed upstream ... Read More »

For the second year in a row, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) joined with Washington State University (WSU), the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and other commodity groups to celebrate Washington state agriculture in the nation’s capital. The group visited with most members of the state’s Congressional delegation and then held a Taste of Washington reception that ... Read More »

The failure of Congress to approve the USMCA trade agreement with Mexico and Canada prior to the August recess jeopardizes trade with two of America’s most reliable customers as it threatens wheat shipments to our most important market. The Washington Grain Commission (WGC) and the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) urge Congress to schedule an expeditedvote on the important ... Read More »

From the National Association of Wheat Growers On July 25, 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced details of its latest $16 billion in aid to offset trade damages, including another round of market facilitation program (MFP) payments of $14.5 billion for farmers who are being impacted by the current trade war with China. Payment rates are set at a ... Read More »

From farmers.gov Assistance for non-specialty crops is based on a single-county payment rate multiplied by a farm’s total plantings of MFP-eligible crops in aggregate in 2019. Those per-acre payments are not dependent on which of those crops are planted in 2019. A producer’s total payment-eligible plantings cannot exceed total 2018 plantings. County payment rates range from $15 to $150 per ... Read More »

From the U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced details of the $16 billion package aimed at supporting American agricultural producers while the administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals. In May, President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory ... Read More »