Wheat All About It

10.6.18 The battle between wheat farmers wanting to maintain fire as a tool and air activists wanting to extinguish the practice, was hard fought nearly 20 years ago. Today, burning wheat stubble in Eastern Washington remains an alternative, but it is done with nary a complaint over smoke, thanks to the Washington Department of Ecology’s agricultural burning program. Join Scott Yates, director of communications and producer relations for the Washington Grain Commission, as he talks with Ecology burn program supervisor Kary Peterson, about the relationship between wild fires and ag burning, the impact of baling wheat straw on a widespread basis and reasons behind the increase in orchard pile burning with a simultaneous decline in wheat stubble burning. All that and more in episode 98 entitled: Ag Burning: A Program That Works. Subscribe to Wheat All About It on Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Cast, Player FM and other podcast apps and never miss an episode. For those with iPhones: touch the purple podcast icon, and type “Wheat All About It” in the finder to listen quickly!

10.23.18 Sensors planted in fields and drones flying overhead, both collecting data to improve crops and reduce inputs is not science fiction anymore. In episode 96 entitled, "The Brave New World of Farming Comes to Farmington", Andrew Nelson explains what he’s hoping to accomplish as part of an effort that has him partnering with Microsoft. With a degree in computer software engineering and as a farmer, Nelson believes its possible to significantly reduce input costs and improve crop efficiency. To achieve those goals, however, it’s necessary to access “the cloud”, the internet based inventory of programs and products necessary to truly bring agriculture into the 21st Century—and Nelson is working on that too. Subscribe to Wheat All About It on Stitcher, Overcast, Pocket Cast, Player FM and other podcast apps and never miss an episode. For those with iPhones: touch the purple podcast icon, and type “Wheat All About It” in the finder to listen quickly! Find the complete archive of podcast episodes at wagrains.org.

10.9.18 Episode 94 continues an engaging discussion with Dennis Solbrack, new product engineer at the Pape Machinery location outside Colfax, Wash. In the second of two parts, Solbrack talks about the ownership of data that today’s machinery spews by the second, exactly what sort of work farmers can perform on today’s software laden equipment, competition for the market with Case IH, the future of driverless combines and tractors—and more! Join Scott Yates, director of communications and producer relations for the Washington Grain Commission as he continues his conversation in the episode entitled: Dennis Solbrack May Not Bleed Green, But He Lives Green—John Deere Green! Subscribe to Wheat All About It! and never miss an episode. Those with iPhones can touch their purple podcast icon and type in Wheat All About It in the finder. Or subscribe with the podcast’s newest app, Stitcher.

9.25.18 Want to know how much higher prices might be with China still in the market or what U.S. Wheat Associates describes as a trade time bomb? Have you heard about the fourth GE wheat discovery or the Food and Drug Administration’s investigation of pulse heavy dog food diets? Episode 92 of Wheat All About It, entitled The World Wheat O’Clock Report, brings listeners news about our favorite crop as well as stories that affect agriculture across the Pacific Northwest and the nation. In addition to iTunes, you can now subscribe to Wheat All About It on the podcast platform, Stitcher.

9.11.18 After several seasons of less than perfect weather resulting in less than ideal wheat crops in Eastern Washington, 2017/2018 returned the region to a more traditional harvest outcome. Listen to country elevator staff rate the season in episode 90 of Wheat All About It! entitled: An Ideal Season For Our Favorite Crop. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or other podcast apps or go to wagrains.org to access Wheat All About It. Connect your smart phone by Wi-Fi or a four bar cellular link for quick downloads which can be listened to later in the tractor, truck, combine or easy chair.