Posts by Trista Crossley
Olympia Days 2026
Last month, growers and staff of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) spent three days in Olympia, discussing WAWG priorities with legislators, handing out cookies, and meeting with the governor and his staff to advocate for the state’s wheat industry. “We met with more than 40 legislators from both sides of the aisle and…
Read MorePesticide license update
Beginning Jan. 1, 2026, almost everyone in Washington state holding a pesticide applicators license will be required to take at least one extra step before recertifying their license in order to meet updated Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. A notice from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) was sent out to licensees in 2025…
Read MoreBusiness has been protecting farmers’ crops for nearly 100 years
For nearly a century, farmers in the Palouse have been able to rely on Western Insurance to help them through crop failures, revenue losses, and everything else a crop insurance policy protects. Western Insurance was original formed as Fairfield Waverly Insurance in 1916 when Waverly Exchange Bank merged with the Bank of Fairfield. Over the…
Read MoreA look ahead
As the 2026 Washington State Legislative Session gets underway on Jan. 12, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers is preparing for a short, intense session that is likely to bring some challenges. While wheat growers will be formalizing state and national priorities for the year at the Jan. 13 state board meeting in Ritzville, Wash.,…
Read MoreRep. Tom Dent, District 13
Editor’s note: This transcript of an interview with Rep. Dent has been edited for clarity and length. What are your priorities for the 2026 Legislative Session? We did a bill here two, three years ago about the use of aircraft and wildfire, the Aviation Assurance Funding bill. That bill allowed our small rural fire departments…
Read MoreRep. Kristine Reeves, District 30
What are your priorities for the 2026 Legislative Session? While I am working on a variety of policy proposals, including textile recycling to take on the impacts of fast fashion on our waste streams, tobacco/vape regulation to protect our kids, natural resource policy that provides balance between the state’s economic needs and our vision for…
Read MoreSen. Shelly Short, District 7
What are your priorities for the 2026 Legislative Session? Agriculture in our state is at a critical juncture; its viability is a top priority this session. We’ve all watched the impacts on agricultural operations from burdensome and costly labor policies and incessant regulations. I want to focus on alleviating that burden. We see the loss…
Read MoreSen. Mike Chapman, District 24
Editor’s note: This transcript of an interview with Sen. Chapman has been edited for clarity and length. What are your priorities for the 2026 Legislative Session? I try to run the committee in a collaborative format, so my priorities will be what the committee’s priorities are. I’ll certainly see what Sen. Short, her team, and…
Read More‘New’ mural celebrates Waterville history
Like the early 1900s aerial tramway it depicted, a 30-year-old mural on the side of the Douglas County Museum in Waterville, Wash., was in danger of fading into obscurity. But over the past summer, it got more than just a facelift, thanks to local artist Don Nutt. “The mural had deteriorated to a point where…
Read MoreSpotlight on AMMO
The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) staff are putting the finishing touches on the 2026 Agricultural Management and Marketing Organization’s (AMMO) schedule, which will kick off at the end of this month with sessions on herbicide resistance and financial matters in down times. AMMO has been a mainstay of wheat farmers’ winter calendars since…
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