State

From the Spokesman.com By almost any conceivable measure, this summer’s lengthy and extreme drought led to historic lows in the production and quality of the region’s signature cash crop. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From the Capital Press Agricultural exporters and shipping industry leaders had a heated exchange at the Agriculture Transportation Coalition’s virtual convention. Each group — carriers, port leaders and exporters — expressed frustration at the continued challenges that have afflicted the global shipping industry since COVID-19 first hit in late 2019. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

There’s a new face greeting producers at the Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ (WAWG) office in Ritzville, Wash. Katie Teachout joined the WAWG staff at the end of July as an administrative assistant. Teachout moved to Ritzville in 2020 from Okanogan County to take a position at the Ritzville Adams County Journal where she covered local sports and news. She ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.7 days suitable for fieldwork, up from 6.6 the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week ending Oct. 3 were below normal. In San Juan County, more rain and cooler temperatures pushed the area past drought conditions. Livestock was on stored feed. CSA farms continued fall harvest. Some fieldwork was delayed due to storm systems that ... Read More »

From NASS Winter wheat  Washington planted 1.75 million acres of winter wheat for 2021, down 50,000 acres from 2020. Harvested area, at 1.69 million acres, was down 60,000 acres from 2020. Winter wheat production in Washington is 71 million bushels, down 47 percent from last year with yield estimated at 42 bushels per acre, down 34 bushels per acre from ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.6 days suitable for field work, up from 6.1 the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week were above normal. In San Juan County, cooler nights were reported with some rainfall throughout the week. Corn and potato harvests were in full swing. Seed crop harvest was near completion. In Jefferson County, many areas received enough rain ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The navigation lock at The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River will be closed for repairs for five weeks early next year. That’s three weeks longer than the usual two-week closure for repairs each year. Read the rest of the article here. Read More »

From NASS There were 6.1 days suitable for field work, down from 6.7 the previous week. Statewide temperatures for the week were above normal. In San Juan County, topsoil moisture increased. Fruit crops were harvested. Livestock was on stock-piled feed, and CSA farms continued to harvest annual crops. In Jefferson County, grain harvest was nearly complete, and corn harvest began. ... Read More »

From the Capital Press The USDA Risk Management Agency has announced the crop insurance harvest prices for wheat. The agency will use a price of $9.86 per bushel for winter wheat and $9.21 per bushel for spring wheat. Read the rest of the article here. (A list of FAQs on the wheat harvest price from RMA is here.) Read More »

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 »