Posts by Trista Crossley
Start clean, stay clean
Aaron Esser’s message to growers at a workshop in January was fairly simple — the key to controlling weeds is starting clean and staying clean. Unfortunately, the way to accomplish that is anything but. “I’ve been doing this for 28 years now. Everyone remembers Maverick Herbicide, right? When that first came out, pow. That stuff…
Read MoreCombatting Italian ryegrass
Cereal rye might not be the answer to Eastern Washington growers’ Italian ryegrass problem, but Morgan Menaker is hoping there might be a few lessons to be gleaned from his work in North Carolina with it. Menaker is the new Washington State University Regional Extension agronomist covering Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Walla Walla, and Whitman counties.…
Read MoreWheat industry leader is still a Pennsylvania farm kid at heart
Three months into his role as CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers, Sam Kieffer finds it “exhilarating” to focus all his advocacy efforts on a single commodity. “It’s interesting and exciting to be able to dig deeper into wheat-specific challenges and provide more thorough explanations for a single commodity than I was doing…
Read MoreOlympia 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…
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