Last month during a tour through Eastern Washington that included a boat ride to Ice Harbor Dam and a tour of the facility, members of the Congressional Western Caucus learned about the energy infrastructure the lower Snake River dams provide and the measures the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has…
As the dog days of summer roll on, rural towns all around Washington are buzzing with tractors, trucks and other farm machinery. To those in the throes of harvest, it’s the accumulation of all their hard-earned efforts, and with that comes an intense and stressful season. Nearly all of the…
For the July issue of Wheat Life, I’m handing the President’s Perspective reins over to my wife, Teri, to talk about being a farmer’s wife. —Howard McDonald There is an old saying that goes, ”happy wife, happy life,” but in the case of the farmer’s wife, it is equally important…
Rising inflation, interest rate increases, a conflict in Europe, supply chain disruptions, and shifting consumer preferences are creating an environment of unexpected consequences. Managing a farm or ranch business in an economic environment with extreme volatility can be challenging, but also opportunistic. At a recent agricultural conference, Dr. Steve Isaacs,…
With wheat prices hovering north of $10 per bushel, wheat growers may look like they are doing pretty well, but appearances can be deceiving as rising production costs keep eating away at producers’ profits. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates, total U.S. production expenses increased 5.5 percent from…
According to Peter Johnson, better agronomy is the key to unlocking a crop’s yield potential. Johnson, an agronomist from Ontario, Canada, was the featured speaker at the Agricultural Marketing and Management Organization’s (AMMO) 2022 Wheat College, held last month in Ritzville, Wash. More than 75 producers spent the morning learning…
