Earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to join the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) in lobbying for our farmers at both the state and federal level. During both trips, I was able to meet with legislators, create meaningful connections with many new people, and experience how our…
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….
Sometimes, when you sign up for something, you’re not sure what you are getting into. I thought I might be a good fit for the role of a wheat ambassador for the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) due to my FFA experiences in public speaking, but I had no…
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…
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….
More than 30 wheat growers, landlords and industry leaders made the trip to Olympia last month to take part in the Washington Association of Wheat Growers’ (WAWG) annual lobbying visit, the first time since 2020 they’ve been able to meet with state legislators in person on Capitol grounds. Over the…
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…
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…
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,…
Teachers generally do the educating, but last month, a group of University of Washington (UW) faculty members found themselves on the other side of the desk when they visited Sen. Mark Schoesler’s Ritzville farm to learn about the Washington wheat industry. The visit was part of UW’s Faculty Field Tour…
