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 »
Federal
WAWG Statement on Presidential Memorandum to Protect Columbia River Basin Dams
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 »
Integrity of USDA Data Questioned After Trade Report Redaction
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 »
Can the Farm Bill Survive Without a Rural-Urban Coalition? Former Ag Secretaries Weigh In
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 »
Energy secretary ‘passionately in support’ of lower Snake River dams
From the Capital Press The U.S. Energy Secretary recently said he is “passionately in support” of the lower Snake River dams remaining in place. “They’ve been tremendous assets for decades,” Secretary Chris Wright said. “We should not spend money to go backwards to reduce our energy-generating capacity, particularly of such high-value electricity as that from those dams.” Rep. Dan Newhouse ... Read More »
NAWG Deeply Concerned by MAHA Commission Report
On May 22, the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission released its much-anticipated Making Our Children Healthy Again Report. The contents of this report have the potential to significantly impact America’s farmers, producers and ranchers, and the public’s trust in our food system. However, it is important to note that the EPA is still the agency in charge of regulating ... Read More »
Spending Impacts of PLC and ARC-CO in House Agriculture Reconciliation Bill
From farmdocdaily The House Reconciliation Bill includes changes to statutory reference prices used to trigger payments from the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, as well as changes to Agricultural Risk Coverage (see farmdoc daily, May 14, 2025). We evaluate how these changes will impact Federal outlays of the six largest program crops, finding that the proposed changes, if enacted, will ... Read More »
Low prices and Trump’s trade war are pushing these Northwest farmers to the brink
From KUOW Back in the New Deal era, the Northwest’s mighty rivers were dammed allowing barges to cheaply bring grain from the wheat fields of eastern Washington to the coast for export. Today, at ports along the Snake River, trucks unload grain to five-storey high bins along the banks. Most barges that pull up to the terminals carry the equivalent ... Read More »
Crop progress report 05/18: Cooler temps, rain hit state
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 4.7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington. Temperatures cooled across the state, and rain provided timely moisture to crops. Washington crop condition Winter wheat: 3% very poor 6% poor 13% fair 68% good 10% excellent Spring wheat: 2% very poor 4% poor 35% fair 55% good 4% excellent Barley: 1% very ... Read More »
Farm groups ask Supreme Court to hear Monsanto’s appeal
From the Capital Press The American Farm Bureau and 11 other farm groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court to shield the Monsanto Company from lawsuits alleging glyphosate causes cancer. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s line of Roundup products, revolutionized the agricultural industry when it was introduced in 1974, the farm groups stated in a friend-of-the-court brief filed May 9. ... Read More »
WAWG