Ag and Rural Caucus for June
Link to Zoom video: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/7GLdpZBybqPZU43XTipZMYX3CFB2_p-etoNJxcj8uTRnP7j2l-R8ikwpdin2YpoH.S4p-k8toqUF2byp6
Take a look at FLOURISH video at first of meeting.
Policy Briefing
6:30 pm Thursday 19 June
Ryan Boylan, Research Manager, Palouse Conservation District
FOURISH Farmers Leading our United Revolution in Soil Health
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85907982157?pwd=MU4vV3E3VGZ5VU02dnhvZjg2b3hK.Zz09
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You may be forgiven to think that everything is really cut and dried when it comes to good farming. Not quite so easy. Advice to a farmer range from “just let the soil work for you” to “most recommended practices do not make a difference”. We are all trying to sort it out.
What remains at the end of the day is that farmer needs to make ends meet. A good year means that the farmer can invest more in speculative longer-term practices. A bad year pulls back that time horizon. Short-term survival overwhelms thinking about longer term investment.
This is the “white picket fence” test. Look for painted fences and mowed lawns. If a grower can turn money back into his operation, he has the means to invest in his soil. He just needs to know best to do it.
Let’s ask Ryan about his take on what farmers need.
Don
18 June 2025
At first blush, cover crops on summer fallow ground do not make sense. Summer fallow is leaving a field without a crop between seeded crops. The idea is to let a field lie “fallow” a year tp store up water. Dryland wheat growers shake their heads about growing a cover crop on ground they are trying to store water for the next wheat crop. Summer fallow growers’ principal challenge is to keep weeds from sucking up the water they are trying to accumulate to grow the next cash crop. They spend money killing Russian Thistles with tillage or chemical.
How does Ryan respond to questions about having “managed weeds” in the field in its off-year help store water? Let’s find out. These may be novel questions for us but for Ryan they are old hat. This just might be interesting.
Don
14 June 2025
Regenerative ag is the theme of the day, or decade actually. It means everything thought to be good about farming and soil management. It comes down to four recommended practices: 1) reduce tillage, 2) integrate livestock with cropping, 3) rotate crops, and 4) utilize cover cropping. (We have already talked about #2, holistic livestock management along with virtual fencing.)
This month we are going to talk about cover cropping. The idea is to keep a crop on the ground. Around here this does not happen much in summer fallow between wheat crops or in spring crops following wheat harvest.
Ryan is going to talk to us about how Palouse growers can and do use cover crops, and why. Ryan is a pioneer in his work with PNW farmers. Learn the ups and downs of his work.
Don
11 June 2025
June Policy Briefing is about farming. OK, I can feel your eyes glaze over. Stay with me though. Given a moment, I suspect even you may entertain some ideas about farming. Something like, farming done right could solve the planet’s CO2 problem, or if farmers only managed their fertilizer better, we could clean up the Mississippi, or farmers are poisoning the food supply with their pesticides just like RFK, Jr. says, or – fill in the blank.
Farmers are seen as custodians of a national asset and how they farm should advance the social good, and farmers cannot be trusted to make that decision on their own.
The other side is that farmers are small business operators who farm ground that they hold title to and ground that they lease from neighbors. The land, and its productivity, is their principal asset along with purchased equipment. If the weather turns south, the commodity markets crash, or the costs skyrocket, farmers risk losing their owned assets as well as their personal identity.
This is a bit much to take in. Consider this an invitation to talk about farming…with Ryan Boylan from he Palouse Conservation District.
Don
6 June 2025
Zoom link to presentation and conversation
6:30 pm Thursday 5 June
Jane Provo, Chair, Chelan County Democrats
Karen Keleman, Chair, Douglas County Democrats
Kurt Peterson, web designer
NCW Channel Z Tune In/Join In
Better Practices
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86197176823?pwd=6BIWfzuGjNJvviW6YvgbeDeLHKF8FA.1
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Karen Keleman, chair of Douglas County Democrats, and Kurt Peterson who designed the Chelan County Democratic website, are joining Jane tomorrow. This partnership is part of Jane’s message tomorrow. North Central Washington Democrats support each other. NCW counties are tough places for Democrats, yet they thrive by working together and working smart. They are a model for us all.
Don
4 June 2025
I promised Jane that she would not have to carry the burden of producing ninety minutes of material on her own. This is an easy promise to keep; our ARC family is alert and engaged. Sign on Thursday and share your thoughts, dreams and irritations. Or just say “hi”.
See you Thursday.
Don
3 June 2025
Jane Provo brings Better Practices to us Thursday…in the best sense. ARC started Better Practices to showcase local parties. We are all trying to find out what works for us. Better Practices gives us a glimpse of another LPO’s ideas that might work for us too. Note “better”, not “best”. What works for one LPO might not fit another but it gets the juices going.
Jane chairs the Chelan County Democrats. Welcome her – this Thursday at 6:30 pm.
Don
1 June 2025
Our Better Practices roundtable is on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm.. Use the link above for 2025.
Our Policy Series is on the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm. Use the link above for 2025.
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Ag and Rural Caucus of State Democratic Central Committee
Our mailing address is: Ag and Rural Caucus 2921 Mud Creek Rd Waitsburg, WA 99361