No Seed Potatoes No Food Pt 2

No Seed Potatoes No Food Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. It’s a wait and see game for farmers as they keep an eye on Olympia to see if more, onerous regulations are coming their way.

Scott Bedlington, a Whatcom County seed potato producer, says a mandatory buffer bill would destroy many family farms like his, but a voluntary version could work …

BEDLINGTON … “I try to be optimistic. I don’t believe that is going to happen. If it does, that would be the worst and last of my problems and I’d be done anyway, so they have to see that, but I just think that it’s a huge disconnect between government and the local agriculture. I think they don’t know the industry. They don’t know the areas. They don’t know what happens in certain areas where certain crops grow in certain areas and don’t in other areas.”

Bedlington says things are already tough on farmers, especially the next generation…

BEDLINGTON … “It’s frustrating for young people who are trying to make investments, trying to bring their family farm to the next generation and keep this all going. It’s a great thing. It is working good, but it’s getting to the point where it is very, very risky. You’ve got to be real cautious and you’ve got to know what you’re doing.”

But, Bedlington says, bottom line …

BEDLINGTON … “Farmers are survivors. I mean that’s what’s going to happen. Every trade show you go to right now is all about automation, it’s all about getting more done with less inputs. Every meeting I go to, that’s all it’s about.”

He says farmers have no choice right now but to spend a ton to find the right equipment.

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