Persistent issues withinternational trade have been threatening Washington’s most successful crops. Ongoingtrade issues with Asian markets and North American neighbors are “makingfarmers nervous,” said Michelle Hennings, executive director of the WashingtonAssociation of Wheat Growers. “Wehave to have trading partners,” she said.With$6.7 billion in food and agricultural products sent overseas, the...
By Andy PerdueWhen a young grapevine begins growing in the sandy soils of Washington’s Columbia Valley, it takes a few years to establish itself and build a foundation of strong roots before producing fruit.After a period known as the juvenileyears, the vines mature, and with the right care and coaxing,...
Washington’s agricultural exports heldsteady in 2018, demonstrating both strength and missed opportunity, as someindustries suffered under new trade policies while others made gains during theyear.Exports of Washington-produced agricultural goods totaled $6.7billion in 2018, the same amount exported in 2017. The flat growth followed aroughly 10 percent increase in exports of...
The 2019 Washington cherry cropis expected to reach nearly 25 million boxes. Theseinitial estimates come from about 2,100 cherry growers who are part of theNorthwest Cherry Growers/Washington State Fruit Commission, a five-state groupcovering orchards in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah. Beforecherries are picked, “there are still plenty of opportunities...
As the state’s apple growersstrategize to overcome international tariffs, they’re also looking ahead tointroduce to the world a highly-anticipated variety — the Cosmic Crisp.Theend of the 20 percent tariffs on apples shipped to Mexico in mid-May was welcomenews to the state’s apple industry, which saw overall exports down 32.7 percentover...
With a growing number of Washington farm owners turning to theH-2A guest worker program to meet their labor needs, the cost of administeringand providing oversight of the program now exceeds the federal funding providedfor it.It’s a scenario that pushed the state Employment SecurityDepartment to turn to the Legislature this year...
The sweetest words a potato farmer in EasternWashington can hear aren’t aboutcrop yields or perfect weather or the opening of new processing plants.Nah. What really rings golden is: Taco Bell is bringing back NachoFries.Or: McDonald’s now has all-day breakfast.And then there’s “loaded” fries, those deep-fried potato stripsslathered in all manner...
The most recent hops data paints a picture that could beinterpreted as an end to the recent boom for Washington hop farmers.But that does not point toward a fall backto earth, said Ann George, a Moxee farmer and executive director of theWashington Hop Commission, which serves double duty as the...
By Andy PerdueWhile the Washington wine grape market booms, even approaching the state apple industry in size and economic importance, there’s another grape industry that tops the nation in size: juice grapes.Last year, Concord grape growers broughtin nearly 200,000 tons of fruit — 3 percent over the prior year, valued...
The growing number of organic grape-growing regions in theNorthwest provide new opportunities for wine marketing around the popularbuzzword “terroir,” according to a new study by a Washington State UniversityTri-Cities researcher.Derived from the French word “terre,” meaning “land,” “terroir” isused to denote the special characteristics of a place, said Byron Marlowe,...
