Posts by Trista Crossley
Advocates’ views lost in listening sessions
In two, three-hour listening sessions organized by the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on the lower Snake River dams, antidam activists dominated the conversation despite stakeholders’ best efforts. In the first session, held on March 31, only three of the 50 speakers were in favor of the dams. The second session, held on…
Read MoreWorking for Washington wheat
Washington wheat growers are represented by three organizations working together on behalf of the wheat and small grains industry in the Evergreen state. Although it might be confusing, each organization — the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, the Washington Grain Commission and the Washington Wheat Foundation — fulfills a specific role that works in tandem…
Read MoreCRP rates, IRA funds focus of grower seminars
The final Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s seminar for the 2023 winter schedule focused on the latest updates from the Washington state offices of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The seminar was held in Spokane and then repeated the next day in Pasco. In Spokane, Jon Wyss, the…
Read MoreHeadlines keep market volatility churning
On one of the snowiest days so far this year, 34 growers made the trek to Spokane to hear Allison Thompson, market analyst and owner of The Money Farm, talk about the markets as part of the Agricultural Market and Management Organization’s 2023 winter schedule. Thompson highlighted the market’s volatility, telling growers, “There are definitely…
Read MoreChina, conflict, capital all impacting markets
The back end of the 2023 Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s winter schedule was heavy on marketing seminars, a perennial favorite topic of growers. Rob Froom, senior central hedge desk manager at United Grain Corporation, kicked it off in Colfax, Wash., where he told producers there are a lot of balls in the air with…
Read MoreKnowledge is key to effective herbicide use
Identification and knowing when a plant is most vulnerable are critical when it comes to chemical weed control in pasture and rangeland according to Jerry Ellis, area sales manager for Envu. Ellis was presenting at the first Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s seminar last month. More than two dozen growers gathered in Ritzville to benefit…
Read MoreFamily business finds drive to keep moving forward
Like multigenerational family farms, the “family” part of Younker Bros is important, and it’s something Shane Younker hopes will continue. “We’d definitely like to keep the business in the family if we can. So far so good,” he said. Younker Bros, in Spokane, was started in 1991 when Pat Younker; his wife, Renae; his brothers,…
Read MoreTips to help farmers capitalize on tax rates
Last month, a small group of growers gathered in Walla Walla to get the latest information on taxes as part of the Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s 2023 schedule. The information was presented by Ryan Janke, a CPA with Leffel, Otis & Warwick, P.S. “From a tax standpoint, not a lot has changed in the…
Read MoreOn the Hill
Staff and leaders from the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) closed out January by traveling to Washington, D.C., to take part in National Association of Wheat Growers’ (NAWG) winter board meetings and to meet with members of Washington’s federal delegation and leaders of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) agencies. “With Congress starting 2023 Farm…
Read MorePressed into Palouse history
It’s not a typo. Palouse, Wash., with a population of a little over 1,000, is home to one of the wonders of the world. A few of them, actually. Thomas Edison called the Linotype machine the eighth wonder of the world for the way it revolutionized the printing process. Until 1886, when Ottmar Mergenthaler, a…
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