Casey Chumrau

For a variety of reasons, there are multiple politicians, groups, and organizations that say they want the dams on the Snake River removed.  Casey Chumrau, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission said many outside of agriculture don’t appreciate what those dams do, and provide for farmers across the Northwest and beyond.  She said over...

When the Trump Administration took office, and established DOGE, one of the first programs that was reviewed, and eventually dismantled, was USAID.  The Administration said the $40 billion organization, which employed thousands of people, was wasting taxpayer funds and not doing the work it was established to do.  Many in...

When talking about the proposed 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada, much of the focus as been on the impact they will have when American producers want to export product.  But Casey Chumrau, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission said the impact would have been much larger than that.  She sai...

Earlier this week, the Washington Grain Commission announced the appointments of Nicole Berg as the WGC commissioner for Wheat District 5 (representing Benton, Franklin, Kittitas, Klickitat, and Yakima Counties) and Art Schultheis as the WGC commissioner for Barley District 6 (representing Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Klickitat, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima Counties)... Read M

Back in August, the USDA gave the greenlight for a genetically modified wheat to be grown in the United States.  Does this mean growers across the Northwest will soon plant and grow HB4 wheat, which is modified to be drought tolerate?   ...

As Casey Chumrau makes the move from the Idaho Wheat Commission to the Washington Grain Commission, she’s looking back on her time in the Gem state.  It was announced earlier this summer that Glen Squires would retire as CEO of the WGC November 1st, and Chumrau would take his place.  While hi...

As combines roll across Idaho, how is this year’s wheat crop fairing?   Casey Chumrau, Executive Director of Idaho Wheat said the 2022 crop is a little more variable than anticipated earlier this year.  She noted harvest started later than anticipated thanks to the cool, wet spring, meaning some operations are 1-3 weeks behind schedule.   “We are pre...

Glen Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission announced plans to retire November 1st. “Glen has guided the WGC through some big changes to our industry, especially in the last several years pivoting to keep things running through the pandemic. He h...

2022 has already been a turbulent year for many in the farming community, and it’s only the month of April. Casey Chumrau, Executive Director of the Idaho Wheat Commission, said on the positive side, they plan to host a few in person trade missions this year, which will be the first in person trade missions in two years. ...

The 2021 growing season was a challenging one, especially for Northwest dryland wheat farmers. This year’s drought and record heat resulted in low yields, and in some cases a spring crop that wasn’t worth harvesting. Add to that, growing pressures on the input side, thanks to the port bottlenecks up and down the west coast. Cas ...