State

From the Capital Press Up to 146,000 acres of the Northwest — much of it farmland — could be converted to solar production by 2050, according to a recent study. In addition, wind power production could directly impact nearly 8,800 acres. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 6.7 days suitable for field work, up from 6.5 days reported the previous week. Statewide temperatures in Washington for the week ending May 2 were above normal. In western Washington, the weather was great for farming. Some field tillage and planting were done due to the dry soils. Cover crops harvested by dairymen were lighter than ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist On Sunday night, the final gavel came down, and the 2021 Legislative Session adjourned Sine Die. It was a session unlike any other, held almost entirely remotely and with the campus closed to the public due to the pandemic. While people could testify remotely, oftentimes, people were not able to testify because of the high ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.5 days suitable for field work, down from 6.8 days reported the previous week. Statewide temperatures in Washington for week ending April 25 were normal to above normal. In western Washington, rain helped the fields that were dried out. In Clallam County, it was another good week of weather for farming. Field conditions improved. First grass ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork, up from 5.9 days reported the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week ending April 18 were above normal. Western Washington experienced summer-like temperatures. In San Juan county, warm temperatures stimulated pasture growth, and fruit trees were in full bloom. Livestock transitioned to pasture feed, and many CSA farms struggled to ... Read More »

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist There is only one week remaining in the 2021 Legislative Session. During the final week, the Legislature will continue to focus on reconciling differences between each chamber’s budget proposals, bills that are Necessary to Implement the Budget, and bills on the Concurrence Calendar. Budget negotiators worked over the weekend to finalize their operating, capital and ... Read More »

From Dr. Xianming Chen On April 13 and 14, we were planting spring cereal nurseries and taking the first notes of the winter nurseries at Mount Vernon on the west side of Washington state. The winter plants were at jointing stage ranging from Feekes 4 to 6. Wheat stripe rust was up to 40 percent severity on susceptible varieties. Barley stripe rust ... Read More »

There’s no question that the various carbon bills being debated by the Washington State Legislature will raise the price of fuel in Washington. The question is how much will the cost of fuel go up? Affordable Fuel Washington has released a graphic that estimates if a cap-and-trade system, a state tax increase and low carbon fuel standard are passed, fuel ... Read More »

Andy Juris, secretary/treasurer of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, testified today in a meeting of the House Environment & Energy Committee on E2SSB 5126, the Climate Commitment Act. Here is his full testimony. Good morning Chair Fitzgibbon and members of the Committee: For the record, my name is Andy Juris.  I am a fourth-generation farmer from Bickleton, Wash.  On ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The overtime bill that’s likely headed to Gov. Jay Inslee will protect farms from back-pay lawsuits and give farm groups more time to convince the Legislature that time-and-a-half pay after 40 hours will harm farmworkers more than it helps them. The bill, Senate Bill 5172, phases in overtime pay for farmworkers. The threshold will be 40 hours ... Read More »