7.16.19 It’s rare that an industry can lay claim to changing the world, but the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota argues that modern flour milling did just that. Join Scott Yates, director of communications for the Washington Grain Commission, on a tour of the museum on the banks of the Mississippi River in episode […]
7.9.19 Are researchers and farmers measuring the right components of soil health? That’s the question driving the Soil Health Institute, an organization which intends to analyze soil samples from 120 different North American sites (including several in Eastern Washington) to determine whether changing farming practices can result in farmers getting more out of their soil […]
7.2.19 Herbicide weed resistance has more than one cause. In addition to the chemistry of the product, there’s how it is marketed as well as the human impulse to continue using what’s working—until it doesn’t work anymore. That complexity is why weed scientists call resistance the wicked problem, hence the title of episode 132: The […]
6.25.19 A conversation with two WSU weed scientists about the on-going controversy over the most used agricultural chemical in America yields fascinating insights in episode 131 entitled: If Glyphosate’s Glory Days Are Gone, What Comes Next? Weed scientists Drew Lyon and Ian Burke, discuss the debate which include emotional accusations from one side that the […]
6.18.19 Many farmers will test other professions before returning to the farm. Ben Barstow never had a farm to return to, but working on his grandfather place south of Colfax while growing up, whetted his appetite for an agrarian life. As a result, he pursued an undergraduate and masters degree in plant protection and worked […]
6.11.19 Chris Mertz, Northwest regional director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, provides a wheat-centric view of the 2017 Census of Agriculture, a once every five year effort to quantify agriculture in the United States. In episode 129 entitled: There’s Something For Everybody in the 2017 Ag Census, Mertz addresses the decline in the number […]
6.4.19 Wheat farming is not a one size fits all sort of endeavor. Go anywhere in the world and you’ll find farmers who have adapted practices to their soils and their environment, as well as access to nutrients, technology and equipment. In episode 128 of Wheat All About It! entitled: Straight From The Brumby’s Mouth, […]
5.28.19 In the second half of a conversation with cereal scientist Art Bettge, learn about the different versions of soft white wheat grown in the Northwest—known as 510s and 212s—and how they impact the “sweet spot” when blended with high protein red wheats. Also, in episode 127 entitled: Busy Art Bettge Makes Soft White Wheat […]
5.21.19 For those who live in Moscow, Idaho, Art Bettge is a two term city councilman. But for those involved with the Pacific Northwest wheat industry, Bettge is a cereal chemist with 40 years of experience. After retiring from the Pullman-based Western Wheat Quality Lab in 2008, Bettge opened a consulting firm specializing in the […]
5.14.19 Wheat samples will be graded using a new protocol—and a new measurement device—to provide more accurate falling number test results for the 2019 harvest. Stephen Delwiche, a scientist with the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, discusses traveling to a U.S. Army research facility to develop an important part of the […]
