Unexpected neck surgery prevented the 2026 Wheat College keynote presenter from appearing in person, but growers were still able to take advantage of his knowledge as he zoomed in. Following coffee and doughnuts sponsored by the Graybeal Group, Dennis Pennington, the Michigan State University (MSU) Wheat Extension specialist, appeared virtually…
Soilborne Wheat Mosaic Virus (SBWMV), a disease previously only found in Walla Walla County, has now been identified in multiple locations in Whitman County. Morgan Menaker, the Washington State University (WSU) Regional Extension agronomist for Whitman, Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, and Walla Walla counties, notified growers of the bad news at…
According to the National Association of Wheat Growers, countervailing duties on phosphate fertilizer cost Washington wheat farmers about $14 million from 2021-25, but Andy Juris predicts nitrogen and sulfur are shaping up to be bigger headaches for the state’s wheat growers. Juris, a farmer from Bickleton, Wash., and chair of…
Do you know what’s buried beneath that field of wheat on the back 40? It could be nothing, or it could be a large pipe full of pressurized natural gas, and the only way to be sure is to call 811 before you do any digging. “There’s a lot of…
The 2026 Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s (AMMO) Wheat College will be held June 2, in Colfax, Wash., at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds. The keynote speaker will be Dennis Pennington, a wheat systems specialist at Michigan State University (MSU). His presentation is titled, “Stacking the Bushels: Small Decisions, Big Yield.”…
In February, wheat growers had the opportunity to learn some basic information about using options as part of their portfolio of risk management tools. The seminar was presented by Allison Thompson, a commodity broker and owner of The Money Farm, a commodity advisory service based in Minnesota. Thompson’s family owns…
Financial presentations are usually popular with growers, but adding fried chicken and jojos from Sonny’s Tavern in Washtucna made February’s Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s (AMMO) seminar a slam dunk. Before getting to the victuals, growers heard about estate planning from Corey Brock, financial advice from Tara Wiswall, and an…
This article continues our marketing plan discussion from the February 2026 issue of Wheat Life. The next step in making a marketing plan is to form a market outlook. It is hard to do this objectively because our natural inclination is one of hope — for higher prices — but…
It can be hard to find stability in today’s topsy-turvy ag economy, but an accurate balance sheet could make all the difference. That was the message growers heard in January at a workshop focused on “The Business of Farming,” presented by Jon Paul Driver. Driver is an ag economist with…
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…
