Save Family Farming Show

As farmers across Washington state and all over the nation age, there's a growing question about who will replace them to continue a farming community. Judy Feldman, Executive Director of the Whidbey Island-based Organic Farm School, joins Dillon to talk about the impending crisis, and how her organization is trying to help.

As predicted, new farm work overtime laws aren't benefitting farmworkers, despite the promises of lawmakers who supported the changes. Tim Delbridge, assistant professor of applied economics at Oregon State University, joined Dillon with details on his research on the impact of the changing laws in Oregon, showing farmworkers actually making less money as a result, in many cases.

Farmers Equipment Company is known around Northwest Washington and far beyond for serving the farming community with their wide variety of equipment lines, shop and irrigation services and expansive parts inventory and more. Kevin Pawloski, Farmer's Equipment Company's President and General Manager, joins Dillon with a look back at the company's last 9 decades, as well as details on the June 28th anniversary event at their Lynden location.

Whatcom County officials' miscalculation following the recent rollover of a semi load of honey bees near Lynden sent headline writers around the globe into sensationalist overdrive. Local reporter Jeremy Lott joined Dillon to discuss the shock the over-the-top coverage generated, and why at the same time local farmers' response was little more than a yawn.

As the farmworker community grapples with the threat of the ongoing immigration crackdown, some Washington farms have been forced to leave fruit to rot, their workforces in some cases down by as much as 80 percent. Erik Zavala, Director of Field Staff at Wenatchee-based Blue Bird, Inc., a grower-owned cooperative of small family farms, tells Dillon that not only are local workers worried about being targeted by federal agents, but many of the migrant workers who usually travel here from other states for fruit harvest are choosing to stay away.

For nearly 20 years, dairies in Washington's Lower Yakima Valley have been falsely accused of contaminating the groundwater there. Biased news reports, flawed science, federal and activist lawsuits, government coverups, and even bureaucrats' covert coordination with anti-farm groups have been exposed as part of the ongoing campaign to smear these farms and push them out of business. Now, as Dillon explains, a Congressman is elevating this issue to the new Trump-appointed head of the US Environmental Protection Agency. While Rep. Dan Newhouse's letter to EPA chief Lee Zeldin is a win for those in the farming community who have been calling out this likely corruption and the harm it's caused farms, it remains to be seen whether Zeldin and the Trump administration will take the necessary action to stop the EPA Region 10 war on farming once and for all.

Some water users in Whatcom County, particularly longtime multigenerational family farms, have been using the same water source since before state law began requiring water rights. Now that all water users in the county are being required to defend their water rights in court via the Washington Department of Ecology's new water rights adjudication, those farms wouldn't have been able to participate, putting their entire future in jeopardy through no fault of their own. Bill Clarke, water rights attorney for the Ag Water Board of Whatcom County, joins Dillon with details on the state legislature's recently-approved fix for the problem, breathing new hope into the future of some of the area's oldest farms.

With many running events around Whatcom County covering a variety of themes throughout the year, it's fitting that Lynden's signature 5k and 10k run is focused on farming. Julie Kroonje, 'Tractor Trot' Race Director, joins Dillon with details on this year's 4th annual event planned for June 14 that will raise funds for local nonprofit Whatcom Family Farmers Education. To learn more about the Lynden Tractor Trot Run/Walk, go to https://tractortrot.surepost.com/

Over 30,000 Whatcom County residents recently received court summonses in the mail for the state's water rights lawsuit in the Nooksack River Basin. Fred Likkel, Executive Director of Whatcom Family Farmers, joins Dillon with the latest details on how the already-fraught court case continues to get more complicated.

Not only is the science of composting fascinating, it continues to provide new opportunities for farming, gardening and even managing waste from cities. Doug Collins, soil scientist with Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources based at WSU's Puyallup Research and Extension center, joins Dillon with details on their new awareness program focused on compost and the research they're doing to use the natural process to increase sustainability.

For generations, Whatcom County residents have flocked to Boxx Berry Farm near Ferndale for fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers. Now, with current farm owner Mike Boxx looking toward retirement, the farm has sold to a new organization formed to transform the multigenerational family farm into an agricultural research station. Blake TeVelde, a local farmer, agronomist and member of the newly-formed Whatcom Food and Farming Station nonprofit that will guide the process, joins Dillon with details on the bittersweet transition.

Following the Trump administration's move to cut funding for a federal program helping food banks buy food from local farms, the future is uncertain for some small Whatcom County farms that had relied on the program. Stephanie Sisson, outreach and communications coordinator for the Bellingham Food Bank, joins Dillon with a look at the impacts, as well as where they're turning to try to cover the gap.

Recent news coverage of regionally-based dairy cooperative Darigold's current financial challenges has highlighted the struggles that the situation is causing for Washington dairy farms. Jason Vander Kooy, a Skagit County multigenerational dairy farmer and cooperative member joins Dillon with more details on what's happening at Darigold, and how its affecting his farm and many others.

Tide gates protecting hundreds of acres of Skagit Valley farmland continue to teeter on the brink of failure, after a federal Judge in Seattle ruled against allowing routine maintenance on the decades-old infrastructure. Will Honea, attorney for Skagit County, joins Dillon with an update on the continuing saga of local drainage districts fighting to protect farmland, and more on why county government is also worried about the situation.

Activist groups claim a new Washington state measure to bring collective bargaining to the ranks of 'agricultural cannabis workers' claim the bill is limited in scope, but Hispanic state Representative Alex Ybarra from Quincy begs to differ. Ybarra, a former farmworker himself who now represents a region that's home to tens of thousands of farmworkers, joins Dillon to call out the measure, saying state House Bill 1141 is really a 'Trojan horse' to eventually bring collective bargaining to all farmworkers--even though a vast majority of those workers don't want it.

Are officials in the Trump EPA colluding with a high-powered lawyer to suffocate family farms here in Washington state? Ben Tindall, Executive Director of Save Family Farming, joins Dillon to discuss the newly-obtained public records leading them to question what's really going on with the EPA's continued lawsuits against dairies in the Lower Yakima Valley.

A prominent--and sometimes controversial--local environmentalist is changing his tune on the massive water rights lawsuit the state has launched in Whatcom County. "It is completely unable to deal with the kinds of issues we're talking about," said Eric Hirst, joining with Fred Likkel, Executive Director of Whatcom Family Farmers to talk with Dillon on The Farming Show about the water rights adjudication now underway in Whatcom County Superior Court.

"Uncertainty right now is the name of the game," says Jason Hoekstra, CEO of Sumas-based EPL Feed. The company provides feed for dairies and other farms all over Washington state. Hoekstra joined Dillon to talk about many of the challenges facing the local farming community, including the unknowns that the Trump administration's new tariffs present--impacts that could potentially either harm or help farms.