Harvests are up, but growers aren’t seeing the benefit

On the one hand, Washington agricultural producers are doing great. On the other hand, they’re having a tough time of it. Crop prices, generally, aren’t meeting the costs of production for most farmers and ranchers, according to the Washington State University “Washington Agribusiness Status and Outlook” report, which provides an overview for the state of Washington Agriculture. “For most commodities we grow in Washington, it’s a pretty tough year,” said Randall Fortenbery, a professor in the School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University. “We’ve had good production, but prices are quite low, with the exception of cattle prices. So, producers going forward, after their crop is harvested this year, or even dairy producers, they’re looking at some challenging prices, but some pretty good production to go along with that.” Washington grows more than 300 crops commercially, according to the Washington State Department of Commerce. The Evergreen State produce more apples, pears and cherries than any other state, and ranks second in potatoes and fourth in wheat. However, Washington is also an export-dependent state, which means the rest of the world’s economy has a bearing on the profitibility seen by Washingtonians in agriculture.