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Pam Lewison published an opinion in The Seattle Times on April 15, 2024 sounding the alarm of diminishing farms and food producing land. By Pam Lewison Special to The Seattle Times Fourteen farms a week vanished from Washington state every week during the last five years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released data from the U.S. Census of Agriculture and the numbers are shocking. Between 2017 and 2022, our state lost 3,717 farms and ranches. It also lost more than 102,000 food-producing acres. To put these numbers in perspective,...
OLYMPIA–The function and administration of the federal H-2A farmworker visa program is one of the most utilized yet least understood employment programs in Washington state. The H-2A program provides visas to foreign-born workers to legally find temporary farm work in the United States for up to 10 months a year. Washington state is among the top five users of the program. House Bill 2226, and its companion Senate Bill 5996 – concerning collecting data on the H-2A worker program and from certain hand harvesters – focus specifically on the w...
A great many farmers and ranchers identify with Paul Harvey’s iconic poem, “So God Made a Farmer,” but this time of year, I prefer the editorial from Francis B. Church, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Whether you read Paul Harvey’s poignant poem or Francis Church’s editorial to set the tone for your holiday season, both point to the need for belief and hope. Harvey wrote, “And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker’ – so God made a Farmer.” Similarly, Church penned, “Yes, Virginia,...
It is Sunshine Week–a national observance of transparency in government. It is fitting, then, that I got the first installment of public records requested from the Governor’s office regarding the buffer bills of the last two years late last week. In reviewing the documents sent my way–primarily calendar items and correspondence from folks interested in removal of the Lower Snake River Dams, support and opposition for HB 1838, and various other salmon-related interests–something struck a chord. In all the records, nearly 3,000 of them, what wa...
Ever since gray wolves returned to Washington state, they have been a lightning rod for ranchers, environmentalists, and the Governor. No matter what your thoughts are on the apex predators, they are a fully entrenched species in our state now. The gray wolf population is increasing year over year. In 2021, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) reported more than 200 wolves in 33 packs throughout the state, with the majority of those packs located in Northeast Washington....
Forest health, climate change, and a plan that got almost no input before being announced is at the heart of the “carbon project” announced by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources last week. The project, developed by Finite Carbon, proposes to set aside 10,000 acres of forest in Western Washington, once set aside for marbled murrelet habitat and then cleared for logging, for carbon offsets that can be purchased by large companies in trade for their greenhouse gas emissions. The act of setting aside 10,000 acres of forest as “pr...
Have you seen the advertisement in which a Labrador turns into a wolf? A narrator tells the viewer, “All dogs, no matter what breed, are descended from wolves …” The trouble with advertisements like that is the implication that wolves are approachable animals – practically pets. The implication has helped push us well beyond conservation of gray wolves in Washington state and into the territory of preservation without consideration for the people and livestock being negatively impacted by these apex predators in specific parts of our state....
Gray wolves are thriving in Washington state and their numbers have consistently increased year-over-year. Yet, we are continuing to have discussions about the need to preserve their growth. The Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is currently seeking comments on rule changes to make use of all non-lethal deterrents mandatory in certain parts of the state before wolves proven to be depredating livestock can be lethally removed and language that would formalize the current response process in cases of depredations. The need to...
Today ends national Agriculture Week. For a large part of Washington state, that means a great deal. In Washington state, agriculture generates more than $20 billion in revenue for the state annually and employed an estimated 200,000 people in 2020. We lead the nation in the production of apples, blueberries, sweet cherries, hops, pears, and spearmint oil. Washington’s producers are second in the nation in the production of apricots, asparagus, grapes, potatoes, and raspberries. We are also the second-largest wine producing state in the U.S. a...
Food security is often thought of as a national topic, but food security starts locally. Washington state is part of what the U.S. Department of Agriculture has dubbed the “Fruitful Rim.” Yet, we are also home to numerous “food deserts” where food is hard to come by. The USDA defines a food desert as a “low-income tract where a substantial number or substantial share of residents does not have easy access to a supermarket or grocery store.” More specifically, food deserts are areas where people do not have easy access to affordable,...
In recognition of the drought gripping much of our state, a burn ban was issued today that will remain in effect until Sept. 30. Ironic given the ignored pleas of the agricultural community to have a drought emergency declared in 14 counties in Eastern Washington just a few weeks ago. The burn ban prohibits all outdoor and agricultural burning in all 39 counties across the state including campfires, bonfires, land clearing, agricultural burning, and yard debris cleanup. Use of charcoal grills...
Washington state pays the highest Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) in the country, $16.34 an hour. The AEWR acts as a de facto minimum wage for the federal H-2A temporary worker visa program. The H-2A program allows farmers and ranchers all over the United States who prove there are not enough local farmworkers present in their state to hire farmworkers from outside the U.S. on a visa to work in the U.S. for up to 10 months during each year. The H-2A program in Washington state is heavily utilized despite being designed to encourage the hiring...
WASHINGTON STATE–Imagine paying off the mortgage to your home in full and on time. Then, a month later, receiving a letter from the bank outlining an additional three years of payments owed because the bank decided your interest rate changed after you’d paid your mortgage off. That is the discussion playing out in agriculture during this legislative session. Instead of mortgage it is farmworker wages, and instead of interest rates, it is the seeking of additional wages related to a court case. Substitute Senate Bill 5172 would require all agric...
The Washington State Department of Agriculture announced Monday they would begin the annual “hunt for pests” by placing thousands of traps around the state without notifying landowners in advance. WSDA has chosen to avoid contacting landowners in an effort to minimize concerns related to COVID-19. However, given the current climate and the rural nature of some of the locations in which the traps will be placed, it is an unwise plan. In the press release, WSDA noted their crews would be wearing vests with “WSDA” on the back to identify themsel...
If you search Google Scholar for the phrase “decision making process,” nearly 1.3 million academic articles will show up – and that’s just since 2016. Decision-making habits are critically important for all sorts of reasons, particularly in sales. Advertising appeals to how people choose between different products and often that choice boils down to one specific outcome: how a product makes you feel. This year, as public policy debate rages around animal agriculture, the use of pesticides, and immigrant labor programs, the debate around...