By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Last Friday marked the 19th day of the 2022 Legislative Session. Committees are still holding hearings on new bills as well as scheduling bills for executive action (voting bills out of policy and fiscal committees). Bills are continuously being revised as they move through the legislative process which requires ongoing monitoring and review. As of ... Read More »
State
WSDA: Farmers in one county would lose 11,000 acres to mandatory buffers
From the Capital Press Mandatory riparian buffers sought by Gov. Jay Inslee could take up more than 11,000 acres of farmland in Skagit County and nearly 5,000 acres in Lewis County, according to the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »
Crop progress report 01/25: Overall conditions favorable to winter wheat in Eastern Washington
From NASS Statewide temperatures in Washington for the month of January were below normal. In Western Washington, early January was cold with snow and freezing temperatures. Late January transitioned back to heavy rainfall throughout the district. In San Juan County, vine and tree fruit pruning had started on days without massive storm events and rain. Most other crops planted for ... Read More »
State legislative report 01/23: In hearing, ag comes out in force against buffer bill
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist Last week concluded the second week of the 60-day session. Legislative committees have been busy with packed agendas holding hearings on new bills and voting to advance bills out of their policy committee. As of Jan. 21, more than 500 bills have been introduced in the House and more than 400 in the Senate. Less ... Read More »
State legislative report 01/14: Legislature hits the ground running in short 60-day session
By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist The Washington Legislature convened on Monday, Jan 10, for a short, 60-day session. Short sessions have been described as drinking from a fire hose since everything happens on a condensed timeframe, and this year is no exception. Prior to the session even starting, the legislature had prefiled more than 500 new pieces of legislation for ... Read More »
USDA: Northwest wheat stocks down 43%, winter wheat planting up 3%
From the Capital Press Pacific Northwest wheat stocks are down about 43% compared to the same time last year, according to the USDA. Regional wheat industry representatives say that’s to be expected. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »
All wheat stocks stored in PNW down 43 percent from last year
From NASS All wheat stored in all positions on Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington totaled 82.6 million bushels, down from 147 million bushels a year ago. Off-farm stocks were down 44 percent, while on-farm stocks were down 38 percent compared to the previous year. In Idaho, wheat stored in all positions totaled 48.8 million bushels, down from 84.7 million bushels ... Read More »
First stripe rust forecast of 2022 calls for moderate levels
By Xianming Chen Based on the weather data in November and December 2021, stripe rust in the 2022 wheat growing season is forecasted to be in the middle range of the moderate epidemic level (20–40 percent yield loss on susceptible varieties). Using the forecast models based on the 2021 November and December weather data, yield loss of highly susceptible winter wheat varieties in ... Read More »
WSDA to host pesticide usage collection meeting
The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) is hosting a pesticide usage collection meeting on Jan. 19 at the Washington Association of Wheat Growers office in Ritzville from 9 am to 12:30 pm. Joel Demory, an agricultural practices specialist from the WSDA Spokane office, will be leading the meeting. The goal of the meeting is to collect updated pesticide usage data ... Read More »
Crop progress report 12/21: December colder than average in Washington
From NASS Statewide temperatures in Washington for the month of December were mostly below normal. In western Washington, a bitter cold wave hit the area. Livestock were on stored feed with five to seven inches of snow on the ground. In San Juan County, winds out of Canada from the Frasier River outflow dropped wind chills to single digits. Pruning ... Read More »
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