Don Jenkins

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife was surprised to learn that $200,000 in its budget was reserved for a range-riding entrepreneur known as “The Wolf Ranger.” The Legislature allocated the money last spring for managing wolves in southeast Washington, more specifically for “projects guarding the respective interests of predators and humans.” Fish and Wildlife didn’t request the money and spent months figuring out how to use it. In October, the department learned from the governor’s budget office that it was for Daniel Curry, founder of Project GRIPH. GRIPH stands for Guarding the Respective Interests of Predators and Humans — the same words as in the budget. "God knows how it got there," Fish and Wildlife wolf policy lead Subhadeep Bhattacharjee said.

U.S. attorneys will ask a federal judge to sentence a Chinese national to two years in prison for smuggling a plant pathogen into the U.S. for research purposes and lying to FBI agents about it. Yunqing Jian, 33, is set to plead guilty Nov. 12 in federal court in Detroit, Mich. Jian was arrested in June on suspicion of smuggling Fusarium graminearum, a fungus that causes head blight in wheat. Jian was a research scientist at the University of Michigan. Government officials implied Jian and a co-conspirator, Zunyong Liu, were plotting to devastate Midwest crops. FBI Director Kash Patel called the pathogen an “agroterrorism agent.” Jian tried to smuggle in the pathogen for research, according to court records. The University of Michigan, however, did not have a USDA permit to study Fusarium graminearum. Jian admitted that taking a short-cut was “foolish.”

Washington timber companies are fighting a proposal that would prohibit logging in some places within 75 feet of streams without fish in Western Washington. If loggers are pushed back, farmers could be next, said Jason Spadaro, executive director of the Washington Forest Protection Association.And if loggers and farmers lose land, rural counties, rural schools, rural fire districts and rural residents will take a hit, too, he said.

Solar panels over apple orchards could generate electricity without sacrificing farmland, according to a state-funded report. The study, released Nov. 4 by Washington State University, identified 87,000 acres suitable statewide for agrivoltaics, the dual use of land for producing food and making electricity. Washington's ample apple orchards are especially ripe for agrivoltaics, the study said. Besides generating power, solar panels would shade apples on hot days.

The U.S. Supreme Court has been deluged with briefs on the legality of President Trump’s reciprocal and fentanyl-related tariffs, but not from farm groups. Economists, historians, trade scholars, tax professionals, think tanks, blue states and others have submitted friend-of-court briefs. U.S. farm groups haven’t submitted briefs on their own or with others. Farm groups such as the American Farm Bureau and American Soybean Association have cautioned against tariffs. But they’ve also praised trade deals the Trump administration attributes to the threat of tariffs.

Ranchers say Wash. Fish and Wildlife goes AWOL on wolves

Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia have agreed to eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers on U.S. agricultural goods, according to the Trump administration. The White House announced the four trade deals […]

U.S.’s trade relations with Canada, the second most-lucrative foreign destination for American agricultural products, took another misstep.  President Trump halted trade talks late Oct. 23 over a television ad paid […]

Washington’s water year was dry and hot and its effects may linger far into the new water year. The Washington State Climate Office calculates the water year — Oct. 1, […]

PROSSER, Wash. — It’s harvest time and Central Washington farmer Jim Willard is short apple pickers. He doesn’t blame President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. “Due to immigration enforcement? I […]