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By Jon DeVaneySpecial to the Seattle Times More and more of our Washington state apple, pear and cherry growers are being forced out of business by circumstances beyond their control. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture, Washington state lost 3,700 farms between 2017 and 2022 —…

by Diana Carlen Lobbyist, Washington Association of Wheat Growers The legislature has completed the second week of its session; due to the pace and compressed timeline of the short session, however, it feels like we have been in session much longer.  Committees have been busy holding public hearings and passing…

In January, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) announced that Anthony Peña had been promoted to vice president of policy and communications. Peña joined the NAWG team in March 2025 as policy manager, where he has played a key role in advancing the association’s policy priorities and strengthening engagement…

From world-grain.com The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) took the first step last week toward assuming Food for Peace, the flagship US international food aid program, with a series of roundtables on how to best operate it. The USDA, the US Department of State and Office of Management and Budget signed…

By Michelle Hennings Executive Director, Washington Association of Wheat Growers As we enter 2026, I am reminded of how quickly time seems to pass. The past six months have been especially eventful for the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG). Since my previous column, our organization has remained actively engaged…

From Progressive Farmer Farmers heading into 2026 are facing what congressional agriculture leaders repeatedly described as a “perfect storm” — high input costs, weak commodity prices, labor shortages and lingering trade disruptions. But top lawmakers from both parties say there is renewed urgency to complete some unfinished farm-bill work and…

From the Capital Press Gil Crosby and his neighbors aren’t sure what they’ll plant this spring. “Lentils are down, garbanzos are down, peas are down, winter wheat price is down … I don’t think there’s going to be any malt barley contracts and feed barley’s not good,” said Crosby, the…

By Diana Carlen WAWG Lobbyist On Dec. 23, 2025, Gov. Bob Ferguson released his proposed supplemental operating budget. The supplemental budget plan — Ferguson’s first as governor — is an adjustment to the roughly $78 billion 2025-2027 budget passed by the Legislature last April, which included $9 billion in tax…

By Xianming Chen USDA-ARS Research Plant Pathologist Based on the weather data of November and December 2025, stripe rust in the 2026 wheat growing season is predicted to be in the upper range of severe epidemic level (40-60% yield loss on susceptible varieties). Using a set of forecast models based on…

On Dec. 1, 2025, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the next phase in the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program (FBA), the eligible commodity per-acre payment rates. As announced earlier this month by President Trump and Secretary Rollins, $12 billion will be paid to American farmers in 2026. Of…