Washington Ag Wage Crisis
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson. Wages for ag workers in Washington state are pushing the limits of affordability for farmers.
Pam Lewison, Ag Research Director at the Washington Policy Center, says we’ve reached an unsustainable level in recent years that’s forcing many out of business …
LEWISON … “When we look at our specialty crops in particular, Washington State Tree Fruit Association did a poll of their growers at the end of last season. Their growers paid 108% of their gross income on labor costs alone. They paid more money in labor costs than what they earned.”
And that, Lewison says is before paying all of their other bills, like mortgages, property taxes, input costs, etc …
LEWISON … “When I say that agriculturally we’re in a dire environment what I’m talking about here is that our labor costs have far outpaced our cost of doing business. And there’s really no ability for farmers to turn that back into a more advantageous income stream because of farmers being, again, price takers not price makers.”
Lewison says if you want to learn more about ag policy and what being a price taker versus a price maker means, go to the Washington Policy Center website at …
www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/ag-econ-101-an-explanation-of-price-taker-vs-price-maker
