By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist The Legislature adjourned on the 60th day of the 2026 Legislative Session on March 12 at around 8:30 p.m. In the final week of the session, the Legislature adopted the supplemental 2025-2027 operating, capital, and transportation budgets. The Legislature also spent the final week passing bills. In total, the Legislature passed 267 bills during the ... Read More »
The last leg of the Armchair Engineer’s trip down the Columbia-Snake River System. On the final day of the trip, he enters the lower river near Portland/Vancouver and begins delivering cargo at a port on the Willamette River, the Port of Kalama, the Port of Rainier, and finally the Port of Longview. Part 4 of 4 – Cascade Locks, OR to ... Read More »
The Washington Association of Wheat Growers led a letter earlier this week to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Transportation and Operating committees regarding proposed funding on a study on “breach-readiness” on the lower Snake River dams. Dear Chairs and Ranking Members: On behalf of the thousands of farming families, irrigators, and agricultural businesses that form ... Read More »
From smallgrains.wsu.edu In recent years, a growing number of dryland producers have been exploring ways of producing their own nitrogen fertilizer, on-farm. For some, this means making their own biological products by brewing compost teas (opens in new tab) and making compost extracts that can be applied in a liquid form, for instance as a seed inoculant or foliar application ... Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist With less than a week remaining in the 60-day session as of March 7, the 2026 legislative session enters the home stretch. The Legislature reached two major milestones this past week. The first was March 2, the last day to pass opposite chamber bills from House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation ... Read More »
By Dr. Xianming Chen USDA-ARS Research Plant Pathologist Wheat stripe rust is forecasted to be in the upper range of severe epidemic (40-60% yield losses on susceptible varieties) in the 2026 growing season for the eastern Pacific Northwest, based on the predication models using the weather data from November 2025 to February 2026. The models predict highly susceptible varieties to have 55.8% yield ... Read More »
Part 3 of 4 – Arlington, OR to Cascade Locks, OR On day three, we travel through the tallest navigation lock in the western hemisphere, sail over the historic site of Celilo Falls, learn about the Long Narrows of the Columbia, and pick up a fourth grain barge while parallel parking at 650 ft long tow! Read More »
Part 2 of 4 – Lyons Ferry, WA to Arlington, OR On day two, we see Lower Monumental Dam, Ice Harbor Dam, and the legendary Wallula Gap on the Columbia River. As the sun goes down, we pass through McNary Dam and enter the Columbia River Gorge to see the stars over the 75-mile-long John Day cruise! Read More »
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Washington State legislators have completed their seventh week of work in Olympia as of Feb. 28. There are less than two weeks remaining in the legislative session. The Legislature passed a major cutoff Feb. 25, the last day to pass policy bills from the opposite chamber out of policy committees. The next major cutoff is ... Read More »
From PNW Ag Network When it comes to addressing the concerns of Washington’s farmers and ranchers, Olympia has not always moved quickly, or sometimes at all. But, during a recent trip to the state capital, Michelle Hennings, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers said she had the opportunity to speak before several committees and groups about the challenges facing farm country. Read the rest ... Read More »
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