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A best management practice results in maximum yield balanced against minimum inputs, a small environmental footprint and overall production system sustainability. But knowing which management decisions are best is complicated. Recent technological advances, however, are making it easier as efficient and inexpensive on-farm research and data collection are helping farmers make the most of superior …

Making the Most of Enhanced Decision Making Read More »

One of the most important activities the Washington Grain Commission (WGC) undertakes over the course of a year is hosting trade teams. More funding may be devoted to other line items in the budget, but the amount of time WGC staff and commissioners devote to planning, hosting and summarizing trade team visits, eclipses all other …

Trade Teams Integral to Selling PNW Wheat Read More »

“The Little Things That Run the World” (insects, that is) was the intriguing title of an address by the famed biologist E. O. Wilson at the 1987 opening of the invertebrate exhibit at the National Zoological Park, in Washington D.C. Of course, no one group of organisms ‘runs’ the complex ecosystems of Earth. Still, insects …

Are the Insects Leaving Us? Read More »

The second RiverFest held in Columbia Park on the shore of the Columbia River on September 7, demonstrated that the first event was no fluke. More people, more exhibits, more food vendors and more entertainment meant more opportunities for educating families about the benefits of the Lower Snake River dams. The Washington Grain Commission (WGC) …

RiverFest Keeps Flowing! Read More »

Molecular technology has been rapidly changing in the past 20 years, making my job as Washington State University’s winter wheat breeder more complicated, and more streamlined simultaneously…

Fusarium crown rot of wheat is probably the most widespread of all root and crown diseases in the PNW. It is found in all precipitation zones and cropping systems–from conventional to no-till. It causes an…

Since starting at Washington State University in 2010, I’ve seen Hessian fly infestations that caused significant losses in both production fields and test plots.  The first time I wrote about Hessian flies in Wheat Life, was in April 2013 due to concern at that time.  Fast forward six years. Now, when I visit spring wheat …

The Hessian Flies Are Coming! What Are Researchers Doing About It? Read More »