dryland

When it comes to the condition of the winter wheat crop, there’s very little to report in the Northwest.  However, nationally, we’re seeing numbers come from the southern and central plains.   “It really highlights just how much stress there is on this 2022-2023 winter wheat crop," said USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.   And when it comes ...

According to the latest numbers from Washington State University, stripe rust is forecasted to be in the moderate epidemic level in the eastern Pacific Northwest, which means 20-40% yield loss in the 2023 growing season.  Those estimates come from predication models using the weather data from November 2022 to February 2023.   ...

With warmer weather in the long-term forecast, growers are planning for the season ahead.  Karen Sowers, Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Canola Association saw while canola seed is produced across much of the western Hemisphere; in the U.S., ...

On Thursday, Klamath Falls-area farmer Brent Cheyne was elected President of the National Association of Wheat Growers.  Cheyne farms with his son Rodney where they raise wheat, barley, oats, alfalfa and Angus cattle.  In 2011, Cheyne began his time with the Oregon Wheat Growers League as the president before accepting the position of NAWG Secretary in 2015.   "It is an ...

Washington State University has announced the new director of the Dryland Research Station in Lind.  Last week, the school announced that crop and soil scientist Surendra Singh will serve as the new dryland cropping systems agronomist and next leader of the central Washington station.  He repl...

With so many question marks for Northwest growers this upcoming season, it’s important producers control what they can.  Andrew Eddie, President of the Washington state Hay Growers Association says interest rates, trade, international conflict, and of course weather are all out of control of the growers; but one thing you can control is relationships.  He noted a go...

As with any new business endeavor it often takes time to get it going and growing and that's the case with hemp in this country.  It's not only a new crop for farmers, on the production side, it also comes with it extra reporting and testing as well as other regulatory requirements that can be daunting.  Before ...

According to the Consumer Price Index, consumer prices for wheat-based products were up substantially in 2022 compared to 2021.  ERS reports that the prices of various wheat products were up more than 10% from 2021.  The increase outpaced the inflation rate in the broader "all food" category, which was up 9.9%, more than ...

The USDA is out with it’s latest world wheat outlook, and Russia and Australia made most of the noise.   “Australia's production we raised that 1.4 million tons to 38 million tons the current forecast would be the third consecutive record large crop in Australia.  With Russia th...

Over the past five years, canola acreage across the Northwest has grown at a fairly consistent rate.  One of the few exceptions was reported between 2021 and 2022, but Karen Sowers, Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Canola Association said that flat trend was not due to demand, but rather due to weather the region experienced last spring.  But she...