Fruit Grower Report

With all the talk about drought again this year, and a lack of snowpack in the mountains, why is nobody really talking about the fact that the reservoirs are currently filled to capacity?

Open border or ICE raids? We’ve tried them both and neither seems to be a practical solution for controlling who comes into our country legally, including those coming here to fill the dire need for an agricultural workforce.

Reports of the Northwest possibly entering a “Super El Nino” year has many farmers wondering how challenging the year ahead may be.

While the Farm Bill 2.0 is front and center for House Ag Committee Chair GT Thompson of Pennsylvania, ag labor reform remains high on his list of priorities.

Much of what the Washington State Tree Fruit Association is focused on is engagement in state government affairs to help address the market uncertainty driven by government policy.

Based on the “alarming” news we’re hearing about the low snowpack in the mountains and another drought year lately, should we be panicking? UW Atmospheric Sciences Professor, Cliff Mass says not so much.

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. We asked Save Family Farming’s Dillon Honcoop if state lawmakers were aware of what their policy decisions were doing!

Whether it’s the cost of farming, the overtime laws, the CCA fuel tax, or the unionization of agricultural workers, growing food in Washington state is not easy.

The Trump Administration’s revised Adverse Effect Wage Rate calculations are being praised by many in agriculture as the common-sense approach they’d been waiting for, now being tied to a less arbitrary standard.

American Farm Bureau Federation’s Executive Vice President, Joby Young says concerns have risen since border security was strengthened under the Trump Administration.

Whether it’s Washington’s new millionaire’s tax, homelessness, trans girls in sports, or the war in Iran, there are a lot of matters in the news that seem to overshadow the farming crisis here in Washington.

More than a month ago, the House Ag Committee passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act on a bipartisan basis, and now, Brian Glenn, American Farm Bureau’s director of government affairs, says it’s time for Congress to continue that progress.

So many of the problems facing farmers today comes from a lack of understanding among the public about where their food comes from and what it takes to produce it.

John Baranick, ag meteorologist at DTN, says they’re predicting a switch from a La Niña to an El Niño this year, and it could be a strong one.

For anyone complaining that workers from other countries are taking away farm jobs from hard working Americans, do your homework.

Family farming has always been a challenging job through the generations but in recent years here in Washington state, the challenges have escalated.

The international Fresh Produce Association is a trade group with the mission of helping businesses at every step along our food supply chain.

The challenges the agricultural industry is currently facing don’t show many signs of slowing down, but that’s not to say there haven’t been a few legislative wins along the way.

The need for labor reform is not the only challenge farmers are facing today, but it is one of the biggest.

WAFLA CEO, Enrique Gastelum says the AEWR is not the H-2A program’s only problem that needs to be addressed.

Save Family Farming’s Dillon Honcoop says the state of Washington has created an environment for farmers that is ALWAYS challenging.

Each year, the Feeding the Economy Report measures the downstream, off-the-farm economic impact of U.S. agriculture.

Whether it’s tariffs and bumpy negotiations with other countries, the cost of transportation, or any other problem, trade is filled with challenges for agriculture.

A bill by Washington Democrat Pramila Jayapal has been introduced into the House of Representatives that could make the H-2A visa program more challenging.

Washington's apple logo gives our most well-known crop an identity others don't enjoy!