For thousands of Washington wheat farmers, the 2023 harvest has wrapped up, and they are deep into seeding next year’s winter wheat crop. This year’s harvest came early and went fast. Most producers reported average to below-average yields with average quality. Producers north of Highway 2 battled snow mold issues,…
Captain Jeremy Nielsen’s role in the transportation chain that takes wheat to market is mostly unseen to farmers, but without him, their grain would be dead in the water. Nielsen is a river pilot, responsible for navigating ocean-going vessels through the lower Columbia River. Using a ladder on the outside…
Employer-sponsored retirement plans aren’t just for big corporations. Even farmers with only a few employees might find there are benefits and advantages to offering a retirement plan. What are the advantages to having an employer-sponsored retirement plan? There are many options, but the most popular tend to be a Simplified…
What I’m about to relay to you is a true story. A few weeks ago, myself and the rest of the leadership team from the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) stumbled into our hotel in Washington, D.C. It had been a long day of negotiating the innards of our…
Many people ask me all the time what kind of law I practice, and they are surprised when I tell them agricultural law. They then wonder how I feed my kids. I also have several clients that do a will or a one-off project and say, “Thanks, but I hope…
For anybody, including farmers, approaching the traditional retirement age, social security and Medicare begin looming large on the horizon. These large government programs can seem overwhelming and confusing to navigate, leaving one wondering where to start. “Navigating is an appropriate term as it can feel like you’re a bit lost…
The road, up the hill, came to a “T”And I stopped at the red sign.After judging it was all clear for meI drove to my side of the line. Straight ahead, the focus of my stareUntil the view on the horizonCentered my thoughts on a fair pairOf plots highlighted by…
Elevators across Eastern Washington are suddenly finding it hard to insure parts of their structures regardless of condition, and if they do find insurance, the price is sky high. Palouse Grain Growers Manager Mike Bagott said they were unable to renew the insurance on their wooden crib elevator through their…
Nine farmers in the Hangman Creek Watershed are taking part in a pilot program that, if successful, has the potential to help solve a major water quality conundrum: installing riparian buffers without breaking producers’ bottom lines. The Hangman Creek Riparian Restoration and Conservation Program is funded by the Washington State…
Shelly Haas is one of the landowners signed up for the Hangman Creek Riparian Restoration and Conservation Program, but she and her husband, Jim, aren’t very happy about it. The program is funded by the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) and managed by the Spokane Conservation District. The program…
