Farm Loss Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. The number of farms and farmland in Washington state is shrinking at an alarming rate of about 14 per week over the past five years.
And, Tenth District Senator, Ron Muzzall says the ag industry is a vital part of our state’s overall economy and we something we should all care about …
MUZZALL … “You can sit in your, in your abode in Seattle and say, well, it doesn’t impact me, and I’m just going to go to the Farmer’s Market. But in reality it does because it diversifies our economy, it creates a strong economy because so much of what we do here in Washington is directly related to agriculture.”
Muzzall says there is a chance Washington ag can get back on track …
MUZZALL … “I believe that there is. One, we need to do a better job of telling our story. Two, for some reason or another we’ve got a bunch of legislators that truthfully believe that, you know, they’re isolated from the impacts.”
But Muzzall says it won’t be easy …
MUZZALL … “Our cost of production, our availability of labor have all increased at a rate that I, I just, unless we make some significant changes, I don’t know that there’s going to be any farmers left. I mean, I thought about creating a bumper sticker. The last farmer out of Washington, please close the barnyard gate.”
To hear more from Muzzall on our loss of farms, go to the Elephant in the Dome podcast.
