An unusually warm, wet winter appears to be increasing the pest and disease pressure Eastern Washington growers are facing going into spring, and at the top of the list is stripe rust. According to the last update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service research plant pathologist, Dr….
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…
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,…
Editor’s Note: Part 1 of “The Catch” ran in the February 2026 issue of Wheat Life. That last day of harvest was marked by the cutting of the border between the families’ two fields. It was very early in the morning, earlier than usual, when Buck fired up his combine…
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…
Washington agriculture has long been a cornerstone of the state’s economy. Today, however, the question facing farmers is not how much we can produce, but whether we can remain financially viable while doing so. One of the biggest challenges is rising input costs, while wheat prices remain roughly the same…
The difficulty in writing this article and trying to explain the requirements for qualifying for the Washington Estate Tax Farm Deduction as it applies to you is that virtually every farmer or rancher estate and their operation is different than their neighbor. Just being a farmer or rancher is not…
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…
“Slow down, son. We want to get there in one piece,” John said to his grandson. “But Gramps, I’m barely going the speed limit,” replied Tommy, the driver of the old Buick. “We are getting close, and I don’t want to miss any of the sights,” John replied. “Johnny, nothing…
