Washington Grown Bill Pt 1
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. On National Ag Day last month, the House Ag Exec Committee passed a bill to recreate a “Washington Grown” branding program.
The Washington Policy Center’s Ag Research Director, Pam Lewison says yes, Senate Bill 5341 passed unanimously there and then again in the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday …
LEWISON … “Washington Grown was phased out in 2018 because they just had some glitches with the program in general. So, this reimagined a local branding program that allows farmers and ranchers to apply for clearance to be able to market their products as Washington grown, something that’s local.”
Lewison says we grow more crops than many realize …
LEWISON … “Washington, you know, we’re a relatively small state in terms of physical land area, but we compete with states like Texas and California in food production.”
There’s no reason, Lewison says, not to have a Washington Grown program …
LEWISON … “When you look at what we do as a state and what we provide, we are sort of doing ourselves a disservice, I think, by not having a Washington Grown branding program already in place.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on the proposed Washington Grown branding program.
