dryland

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...

The Pacific Northwest Canola Association will hold their annual workshop Wednesday, January 25th, at the University Inn in Moscow, ID.  Karen Sowers, Executive Director of the PNWCA, said this year’s event will be slightly different, with several strong speakers and presenters in the morning, with the afternoon focused on more Q&A sessions.  She noted while c...

Many experts voiced surprise at the latest USDA winter wheat report that showed a sizeable increase in seedings nationwide.  USDA chief economist Seth Meyer said growers put in 37 million acres of winter wheat, which 11% higher than last year, and 2% greater than many had expected.  He note...

2022 was a mixed year for many of the Northwest’s largest commodities.   All wheat planted in Idaho totaled 1.16 million acres, down 6% from 2021.   Harvested area, at 1.08 million acres, is down 5% from the previous year.   All wheat product...

According to NASS, winter wheat seedings across the Northwest are up slightly from last year.  Oregon farmers planted 790,000 acres of winter wheat for the 2023, an 8% increase from this time last year.  Idaho growers seeded 770,000 acres, unchanged from 2022, but 8% above the 2021 crop.  Washington’s wint...