Posts by Trista Crossley
Tractor Throwback
It wasn’t the fieldwork happening along Highway 95 in early October that was unexpected, it was the equipment doing the work — no towering, high-tech machines in sight, only old tractors, most pulling small moldboard plows. In all, about 30 tractors took part in a plowing bee organized by Palouse High School student, Colby Dugger,…
Read MoreWatershed work update
This year, water quality work in the Hangman Creek Watershed was marked by two reports released by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology): the “Nutrients and Sediment Pollutant Source Assessment, 2018,” that was released in May, and the “Hangman Settlement Agreement 2021 Annual Report,” released in August. Both documents detail Ecology’s efforts to improve…
Read MoreOn Impact
For the past four years, Mader Enterprises has been practicing harvest weed seed control on their farm near Pullman, Wash. In late October, area growers gathered at Greg Mader’s farm shop to hear some of the things they’ve learned and to meet one of the experts on harvest weed seed control, Dr. Michael Walsh, an…
Read More‘Dam’ critical: Legislators tour Ice Harbor facility
In September, agricultural stakeholders joined state legislators on a tour of Ice Harbor Dam to talk about why the lower Snake River dams are a critical part of the state’s transportation and utility infrastructure. The Washington Association of Wheat Growers was one of the sponsors of the tour. During the boat ride up the Snake…
Read MoreDifferent crops, same issues
Farmers in the Skagit Valley may be producing crops unthinkable in Eastern Washington, but they face many of the same pressures as dryland wheat farmers do. At stop after stop, producers on last month’s legislative food and farm tour discussed issues such as farmland preservation, labor, the cost of inputs, the need for research funding,…
Read MoreBattle between farmers, foodies
National agriculture policy expert Ray Starling sees a growing battle between those involved in the agricultural industry and those who say the food system is broken and want to reform it. “You’ve got the folks actually involved in the industry on one side,” he explained. “On the other side, mostly they are populated with people…
Read MoreDiamond-S Farms, Whitman County
Diamond-S Farms in Colton, Wash., was homesteaded by Art Schultheis’ great-great-grandfather in 1874. After working for and with his parents in the 1980s and 90s, Schultheis and his wife, Sue, took over the farm in 1995, and they are now getting ready to hand the reins over to their own son, Kyle, who joined the…
Read MoreDouble Z Farms, Lincoln County
In Lincoln County, Tom Zwainz and his son, Joel, are the fourth and fifth generations to farm the family’s land, some of which dates back to the 1860s. They grow mostly wheat and canola now, but they’ve grown malt barley, peas and chickpeas in the past. Joel’s path back to the farm wasn’t direct, although…
Read MoreKelley Brothers, Grant County
For five generations, Chuck Erickson’s family has been farming north of Hartline, Wash., in Grant County, but they haven’t always grown wheat. “Originally, we were orchardists. At the homestead where I live, there were 18 acres of assorted fruit trees. They had to bucket water to the trees by hand,” explained Erickson. “Eventually, my great-great-great-grandmother…
Read MoreFSA program audit uncovers error
In early August, some Eastern Washington producers learned they had been mistakenly enrolled in a conservation practice they didn’t qualify for, and their contracts were being cancelled. But along with the bad news was some good news — the state Farm Service Agency (FSA) office already had a solution in place. According to Jon Wyss,…
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