State

From NASS There were 6.7 days suitable for field work, down from 7 the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week were above normal. In San Juan County, irrigated locations did not need as much water due to cooler, shorter days. Harvest happened on CSA farms. Apples, pears and plums ripened. Livestock were fed stored feed. Yakima County received much ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The Washington Farm Bureau can challenge the state’s capital gains tax before it takes effect, rather than wait for farmers to be taxed, Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber has ruled. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 7 days suitable for field work, unchanged from the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week ending Sept. 5 were below normal. In San Juan County, there was no change in livestock management. Irrigated orchards showed ripened fruit. Pastures turned from green to a brown crisp due to no rainfall. In Yakima County, there was another ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Washington state attorneys sought Wednesday to scuttle a lawsuit filed by farmers and others against the state’s new capital gains tax, arguing no one can challenge it until they pay it. Farmers are only speculating that beginning next year they will owe the 7% tax on capital gains over $250,000, Solicitor General Noah Purcell told a ... Read More »

From the USDA Economic Research Service Widespread drought across the northern and western regions of the United States has dampened prospects for projected production and exports in the 2021/22 marketing year of three classes of U.S. wheat: hard red spring, white, and durum. Cultivation of hard red spring wheat, typically the second largest class of U.S. wheat, is concentrated in ... Read More »

From NASS There were 7 days suitable for field work, up from 6.9 days the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week were above normal. In Jefferson County, the weather remained very dry and warm. Crops were one to two weeks ahead in maturity compared to an average year. Nonirrigated crops showed stress from the drought. Grass regrowth shut down, ... Read More »

From NPR The wheat harvest on Marci Green’s farm doesn’t usually begin until late August, but a severe drought stunted this year’s crop and her crews finished harvesting last week because she didn’t want what had grown so far to shrivel and die in the heat. It’s the same story across the wheat country of eastern Washington state, a vast ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.9 days suitable for field work, up from 6.7 the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week ending Aug. 8 were above normal. In Jefferson County, the weather remained very dry. Crops showed stress, and growth slowed down. Crops were ahead in maturity compared to a normal year. In Whatcom County, producers struggled to keep up ... Read More »

In June, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) welcomed two new board members, Leif Claassen from Asotin County and Dave Swannack from Whitman County. Leif Claassen Claassen is the third generation on his family’s Asotin County farm. He graduated from Washington State University (WSU) in 2006 with a degree in ag technology and management with a minor in business. ... Read More »

From the Capital Press Over the summer, National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Chandler Goule toured six wheat-producing states. He says Washington wheat farmers hold a dubious distinction. “I hate to tell you this, but Washington still wins,” he told the Capital Press by phone Aug. 4. “You all still have the shortest wheat that’s got the most heat stress on ... Read More »