State

Crop progress report 09/22/25

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week. Washington crop progress: Winter wheat planted: 58% this week 50% last week 52% last year 52% 5-year average Winter wheat emerged: 30% this week 13% last week 20% last year 17% 5-year average Spring wheat harvested: 98% this week 97% last week ... Read More »

Opinion: WA farms face plenty of pressure, and state regulations are part of it

By Mark Schoesler Special to The Seattle Times As a longtime farmer, I fear more farmers in our state will be forced to leave this traditional and important way of life behind. Washington has seen a steady decrease in the number of farms. As a recent Seattle Times story noted (“3,700 WA farms shut down in 5 years. Why?,”) nearly 4,000 farms ... Read More »

Crop progress report 09/15/25

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 6.9 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week. Washington crop progress: Winter wheat planted: 50% this week 40% last week 42% last year 42% 5-year average Spring wheat harvested: 97% this week 95% last week 99% last year 95% 5-year average xBarley harvested: 98% this week 96% last week 100% ... Read More »

Dam advocates respond to groups’ bid to lift salmon litigation pause

From the Capital Press Dam advocates anticipated environmental and recreation groups’ new motion asking a U.S. District Court judge in Oregon to lift a pause on litigation over endangered salmon and steelhead, the latest in the ongoing controversy surrounding the four lower Snake River dams. “I think this was predictable, obviously, once (President Trump) undid the Biden administration’s secret deal,” ... Read More »

Crop progress report 09/08/25

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week. Washington crop progress: Winter wheat planted: 40% this week 17% last week 32% last year 28% 5-year average Spring wheat harvested: 95% this week 90% last week 95% last year 90% 5-year average Barley harvested: 96% this week 92% last week 96% ... Read More »

USDA Designates 28 Washington Counties as Natural Disaster Areas

This Sept. 2 Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to ... Read More »

Crop progress report 08/25/25

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 7 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington. Washington crop condition Spring wheat: 5% very poor 48% poor 32% fair 12% good 3% excellent Barley: 3% very poor 54% poor 28% fair 14% good 1% excellent Washington crop progress: Winter wheat harvested: 96% this week 78% last week 94% last year 89% ... Read More »

Opinion: 50 years with the lower Snake River dams is worth celebrating

From the Tri-City Herald/Todd Myers It has been fifty years since the four dams on the Lower Snake River were completed. Originally built to provide transportation, they now create the equivalent of 75 percent of all wind and solar power in Washington state, helping balance those intermittent resources across the Pacific Northwest. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

USDA designates 8 Washington counties as natural disaster areas

This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to refinance ... Read More »

Crop progress report 08/11/25

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, there were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington. Washington crop condition Spring wheat: 6% very poor 45% poor 35% fair 11% good 3% excellent Barley: 4% very poor 49% poor 32% fair 14% good 1% excellent Washington crop progress: Winter wheat harvested: 69% this week 54% last week 63% last year 61% ... Read More »