Posts by Trista Crossley
Legislative launch
The Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) is gearing up for some heavy legislative lifting in 2023. There’s a lot of big issues on the state agenda, including amending the state’s agriculture overtime rule to include a seasonal exemption, protecting against restrictive riparian buffer rules, and continuing to advocate against breaching the lower Snake River…
Read MoreWheat well met
It might have been frightful outside, thanks to a massive winter storm, but inside the Coeur d’Alene Resort, all things were merry and bright as farmers, exhibitors and industry stakeholders gathered to celebrate the Pacific Northwest wheat industry at the 2022 Tri-State Grain Growers Convention. “Despite the weather, we had one of the most well-attended…
Read MoreWashington ag’s 2021 top 10
Thanks to the impact of the 2021 drought on wheat’s value of production, the crop slipped from No. 3 to No. 4 in the list of Washington state’s top 10 agricultural commodities last year. Apples remained at the top of the list, followed by milk, then cattle and calves, which moved from fifth place to…
Read MoreTractor 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…
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