Free Ag Business Training & Christmas Tree Shipments Begin

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, the Washington State Department of Agriculture, WSU, USDA Risk Management Agency, Enterprise for Equity, and the Thurston Conservation District have joined forces to offer a free agricultural business training event November 15 at the Department of L & I offices in Tumwater. The daylong event will cover such topics as understanding and complying with FSMA, controlling industrial insurance costs, young farmer options, and understanding and complying with state employment laws. For more information contact L & I's Oscar Cerda at 360-902-5217.

While most of us were thinking about finding pumpkins Christmas tree growers were already cutting, preparing and shipping trees overseas for the holiday season. Chris Aldrich, owner of Native Northwest Company Wholesale Christmas Trees located in Lewis County says they're overseas shipments are probably halfway there by now.

ALDRICH: We started a little early for the overseas market. Those trees usually have to get on a ship by late in October so they can get over there and get set up about the same time as they do here.

Aldrich says he ships to overseas markets which include Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea, and that preparation is pretty much the same for there as it is for the domestic market.

ALDRICH: You're doing the same thing as you do for a van loaded with trees going to any other market except possibly they're going to be in that container two to three weeks so they're refrigerated container and usually you're putting ice in with them to keep them fresher. There's different phytosanitary requirements for different receiving countries so you basically check with WSDA and they're going to tell you what receiving countries need.

Tomorrow Aldrich will talk about the improving export market and how supply and demand is shaping up.

That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.