Understanding Ag in Olympia
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Recent numbers show Washington is the least profitable state in the nation for farming, at a nearly negative $400 million dollars in 2024, the most recent data available.
I asked Save Family Farming’s Dillon Honcoop if state lawmakers were aware of what their policy decisions were doing …
HONCOOP … “I think it’s something that we’ve been saying in the farming community for a long time and it’s just recently kind of come up on the radar for a lot of folks in Olympia who haven’t been as in-tune with this building issue.”
Honcoop says this goes far beyond the challenges farmers are used to …
HONCOOP … “Farming’s always dealing with global market pressures. They’re always dealing with weather issues, good crops and bad crops, you know, market glut, market shortages. All these things are normal, but that’s not what we’re seeing here. It’s bigger than that and it has become an existential threat for way too many farms.”
Especially, the cost of labor alone …
HONCOOP … “Labor costs here in Washington state have increased by more than double in just the last few years. So, a percentage of what they’re bringing in for their crop in tree fruit. Some folks growing apples right now are seeing labor costs even higher than what they’re getting paid for the apples, just for the labor, not to mention all their other costs.”
To learn more about the challenges in agriculture, go to www.savefamilyfarming.org
