State

From NASS There were 7.0 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up from 6.8 the previous week. San Juan County reported the usual seasonal swing into their dry summer. A lot of hay was cut. Livestock were still on pastures, but many with drier soil types expressed that quality was low as plants dried out and stopped growing. ... Read More »

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has designated seven Washington counties as a primary natural disaster area. Producers in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan and Yakima counties who suffered losses due to recent drought may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans. This natural disaster designation allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, up from 6.6 the previous week. Island, San Juan and Skagit counties reported that crops did well with the warm, dry weather last week. Most forage crops were still standing. Harvest was delayed due to the previous unpredictable weather. Haylage producers were busy. Livestock were still on ... Read More »

By Dr. Xianming Chen Winter wheat has reached maturity, and harvest has started in central and southcentral Washington. In the Palouse region in Eastern Washington and northern Idaho, winter wheat ranged from milk to soft dough stages, and spring wheat ranged from flowering to milk. Stripe rust has reached 100 percent severity on susceptible varieties of spring wheat in our ... Read More »

Another year, another 12 months of advocating for the Washington wheat industry. Here’s some highlights and a look what the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) has been up to for the last 365 days. July 2019 Farmers begin signing up for the Market Facilitation Program (MFP). The program, administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), will provide $14.5 billion ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, unchanged from the previous week. Clallam, Jefferson, King and Snohomish counties all experienced cooler and wetter weather. Some acreage had to be replanted including sweet corn, field corn and pumpkins. Some grain crops were lost, and it was too late to replant. Other fields were still too ... Read More »

From Washington Friends of Farms & Forests The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) is proposing to transition to a modern testing platform that will benefit pesticide license applicants and their employers. To create a new and improved testing system, they plan to increase testing fees and change how exams administered. To accomplish this, WSDA must revise state rules that ... Read More »

From NASS There were 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork in Washington last week, unchanged from the previous week. Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific counties reported most farmers were on the second cut for dry hay and haylage. The first grass growth was finished, but the undergrowth was coming in fine. Some vegetable farmers reported poor germination attributed to unstable weather. ... Read More »

So far, it’s been a pretty eventful year for the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG). Add in one more change—the hiring of a new staff member. Lance Marshall was brought on board in June to replace retiring Wheat Life ads sales manager, Kevin Gaffney. Marshall and his wife, Pamela, live in Clarkston, Wash., with their youngest daughter. Two other ... Read More »

By Dr. Xianming Chen During the last two weeks, we have been recording stripe rust data in our experimental nurseries at various locations and completed note-taking of winter nurseries at all locations. Stripe rust reached 90 to 100 percent severity on susceptible winter wheat varieties at all locations. Barley stripe rust developed up to 80 percent severity at Mount Vernon ... Read More »