Economics

Optical grape sorter, Washington wine industry growth, smoke taint on grapes, earliest Washington grape harvest ever, Congressmen visit Wine Science Center, winery tours, Cheers!

To bale or not to bale? That’s a question farmers face every year about wheat straw, which can be seen stacked in large quantities throughout Washington’s wheat country as harvest season ends. A secondary crop for farmers whose prime concern is grain, Northwest straw is sought after by mushroom growers, livestock owners and, increasingly, for pulp.

Hard cider isn’t new; but as an industry, it is growing. Rapidly. A Cider Symposium Sept. 9 aims to help cider makers learn how to keep the industry growing

WSU scientists will host the fourth international Beeronomics Conference in Seattle on Sept. 8-9, the first time the event will venture outside Europe.

Fighting wildfires is expensive. Firefighters must be paid and equipment must be purchased and transported to fires. Operations and maintenance cost money.
According to a WSU researcher, the incentives to lower those costs are out of balance, and the researchers are working to understand the sources of the incentive problems.

Farmers’ markets wanting to increase purchases by customers should consider accepting more than just cash or checks as payment, according to Washington State University researchers.

Earning a Ph.D. is never an easy process, but Georgina Mitchell experienced a far rockier road than most.
“My third first year, I finally finished my last first year class,” said Mitchell, a Spokane resident and member of the Coeur d’Alene tribe.
But this weekend, Mitchell, 41, received her doctoral degree from the School of Economic Sciences after starting the program in 2007.

Ken Casavant received the President’s Award for Distinguished Lifetime Service at WSU’s annual Showcase celebration banquet on March 27.

WSU Professor Jill McCluskey and colleagues at the University of Leuven in Belgium created a theoretical model that illustrates how consumers get more value from negative news than positive news.

Gender and personality matter in how people cope with physical and mental illness, according to a paper by a Washington State University scientist and colleagues at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.