Farmers in the Skagit Valley may be producing crops unthinkable in Eastern Washington, but they face many of the same pressures as dryland wheat farmers do. At stop after stop, producers on last month’s legislative food and farm tour discussed issues such as farmland preservation, labor, the cost of inputs,…
Teachers generally do the educating, but last month, a group of University of Washington (UW) faculty members found themselves on the other side of the desk when they visited Sen. Mark Schoesler’s Ritzville farm to learn about the Washington wheat industry. The visit was part of UW’s Faculty Field Tour…
Last month during a tour through Eastern Washington that included a boat ride to Ice Harbor Dam and a tour of the facility, members of the Congressional Western Caucus learned about the energy infrastructure the lower Snake River dams provide and the measures the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has…
More than 60 legislators, legislative staff and industry stakeholders descended on Walla Walla in late September to take part in a two-day food and farm tour that highlighted issues facing agriculture and celebrated the region’s many farms. Stops on the tour included a wheat farm, a grain elevator, a vineyard,…
What is a family farm? Definitions vary, depending on the person answering, but one thing is for sure—it shouldn’t be based on the farm name. “I think most people don’t realize that every business they interact with on a daily basis is in a legal entity of some kind,” said…
