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…
We’ve all been there. Sitting at the local café/coffee pot/rural community news center when a strange vehicle pulls into town. “That’s the new kid” one of the local farmers says. “He’s taken over the old Smith place.” Folks smile and shake their heads, bless his heart but he doesn’t know…
It is hard to remember the last time we had a “normal” year in farming. In fact, you talk with most folks out there, and no one can remember what a normal year even looks like anymore. This year proved that point with 10-year record high wheat prices, scarcity in…
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…
Oct. 1, 2022, dawned cool and crisp over the grounds of the Menno Mennonite Church. Located 20 miles west of Ritzville, Wash., the church property is a shady, green oasis surrounded by wheat fields and is home to the Mennonite Country Auction. This year marked the 45th year of the…
“I have the second-best job in the world,” said Aaron Esser, Washington State University (WSU) Cooperative Extension agent and the Adams County Extension director. “Farming is the best job of all, but I have the opportunity to be heavily involved in the ag industry, conducting research that improves how growers…
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,…
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…
Just the other day, someone asked me if there was anything that surprised me in my year of being WAWG (Washington Association of Wheat Growers) president. I answered that I was a farmer, and that I’m used to things sometimes going sideways on the farm operation, and I’m used to…
The economic journey that lies ahead is going to be a three-dimensional pathway full of challenges, but also opportunities for the proactive manager. Along this journey, disrupters can occur to bottom-line profits in the form of the three-headed, fire-breathing dragon. If not properly managed, it can lead to burning through…
