Too MUCH Water???

See below for the USDA Risk Management Agency Press Release regarding the cold & extremely wet weather conditions seen across the Northwest all Winter..I mean "Spring" ;) I think its best not to complain about too MUCH precipitation on the Eastern side of the state...however...between the FREEZING spring we've had & now the crazy rain & floods that ensued...this is gettin' to be a head scratcher. We aren't in a drought & we aren't on fire...always gotta find that silver linin'?! :)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

RISK MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Contact: Jo Lynne Seufer, (509) 228-6320

jo.lynne.seufer@rma.usda.gov

Options for Farmers with Delayed Planting from Wet Conditions

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, May 24, 2011 ---Cool and extremely wet weather in the inland Northwest has caused crop damage and slowed planting this spring. Dave Paul, Director of USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) Spokane Regional Office, encourages producers faced with questions on prevented planting, replant or crop losses this spring, to contact their agent for more information.

Producers who are unable to plant an insured crop by the final planting date due to an insurable cause, such as excess moisture and flooding have a number of options.

· Producers may plant the insured crop during the 25 day late planting period with a reduction in the production guarantee of 1 percent a day for each day planting is delayed after the final planting date.

· Producers may leave the acreage idle and receive a full prevented planting payment or the producer may be able to plant the acreage to another crop after the late planting period and receive a reduced prevented planting payment.

· Producers with double cropping history can receive a full prevented planting payment within the guidelines of the policy.

· Prevented planting coverage will not be provided for any acreage that does not constitute at least 20 acres or 20 percent of the insurable crop acreage in the unit. Producers need to keep in mind that group policies do not provide prevented planting coverage.

"Producers who are unable to plant due to excess moisture need to contact their insurance company to discuss prevented planting policy requirements related to their specific coverage and farming operation." said Paul. "The producer's insurance company will make the final determination of acres eligible for prevented planting payments."

Paul encourages producers to contact their crop insurance agent for assistance. Producers can also get crop insurance information on the web at: www.rma.usda.gov.

Local crop insurance agents are available to provide program details that reflect the grower's nursery inventory. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers throughout the U.S. or at the web site: http://www3.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents/.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (80) 795-3271 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

Jo Lynne, Spokane RMA

Jo Lynne Seufer, Risk Management Specialist

USDA/Risk Management Agency

Spokane Regional Office

(Serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington)

11707 East Sprague Ave, #201

Spokane, WA 99206

(509)228-6320Office

800-205-9953 (in AK, ID, OR, WA) Toll Free

(509)998-6902 Gov't Cell

(509)228-6321 Fax

jo.lynne.seufer@rma.usda.gov

www.rma.usda.gov

SpRinG fEvEr

"It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want-oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!

~ Mark Twain

Wheat Life, May 2011 "Farmer near Ritzville, WA spraying weeds"

I tore this picture out from May's edition of Wheat Life and hung it on the wall near my desk at work. The clouds in this picture make a soul just ache... beauty like this was not meant to be ignored, it was designed with perfect intention. This picture is a representation of feeling. You can not truly understand the ache in the soul until you have been under the sky when those clouds look to be moving too quickly by. The sky in this picture will stop you in the middle of even the most aggravating & exhausting handline set. It will take the air from your lungs, empty your soul, and yet fill it even fuller all in a moment.

...Spring, perfectly intentional by design

Don’t let Capitol Hill strangle free trade

Interesting Editorial by Christopher Gillis of American Shipper News ...would love to hear some opinions raised from y'all on this delicate topic. Remember..without opinions or thoughts of our own...well, we might as well just be a socialist!;)

American Shipper   12/22/2010

When a free trade agreement is right for American shippers, like the one recently concluded between the United States and South Korea, then our elected officials on Capitol Hill must make every effort to expeditiously ratify it.
However, as so often goes in Washington, there will be a group of isolationist politicians — both Republican and Democrat — who will do their best to stymie the ratification process, further demonstrating their inherent ignorance in the value of free trade to U.S. industries now and in the long term.
Simply put, free trade agreements are about ending tariff and non-tariff barriers between two countries’ imports and exports. Why should protectionist barriers prevent high quality U.S. products from reaching overseas consumers?
Some lawmakers, as well as labor unions, would argue that these trade deals result in domestic job losses, or don’t do enough to hold trading partners accountable on human rights, labor and environmental standards. While these impacts are arguable, the result of doing nothing to achieve free trade with our closest economic and political allies may spell lost jobs anyway, as U.S. companies’ products fail to be competitive in these overseas markets.
One of the most important U.S. industries — agriculture — has already reaped the benefits from existing free trade agreements between the United States and other countries, such as Mexico, Canada, Chile, Australia, Peru, Morocco and the Central American region.

According to a recent study by a group of U.S. agricultural industry analysts (the 2010 Analysis of the Effects of Trade Agreements on U.S. Agricultural Exports and U.S. Market Development Programs), the North American Free Trade Agreement, from 1994 to 2008, resulted in a boost in U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada of more than 300 percent or more than $12 billion.


...finish reading more about the US-Korea FTA and the remainder of this editorial jump over to American Shipper

China & Washington...which is the "LittLe enGinE that cOULd"??

China Imports $6 Billion A Year From Washington State

"China's status as the United States' number one importer has heavy hitters like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Michael Bloomberg passing through Beijing jockeying for a piece of the China market, But there's one little welterweight that's making a big hit. Call Washington state the little engine that could. After a hard-fought campaign of cold calls and constant visits, China is eating Washington up, from its apples, to its salmon and its candy.
In the last decade, Washington state's exports to China increased over 300 percent. Last year, the state exported nearly $6 billion worth of products to China, second only to California."   (from ABC World News )

Well...not quite sure I like the sound of "little engine that could". Washington State is a heavy hitter in exports which means its often only viewed as a little engine by its own nation. I guess since I am now paying my bills through employment in the WA hay export industry I could be called bias in my opinion. However, I grew up in Yakima County...anyone ever heard of WA apples, what about hops..those things they make beer out of...over 75% of all US hops come from Yakima County alone. Oh yes and let's not forget that hay industry...the largest hay exporter in the world resides right in lil ol Kittitas County, not to mention numerous other hay exporters from the same county. Guess this "little engine" has a bit more steam than others were aware.

Like I say, folks are only ignorant if you allow them to be. ;)