[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":56,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",5972770,"mediaKeyId","5868516-83900ac17ce1bf89af67536c03b08be0","parentId",5868516,"title","Study: Washington farm sectors losing competitive share; potatoes a notable exception","audioSeconds",3126,"startMs",2828000,"endMs",5954000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5868516-83900ac17ce1bf89af67536c03b08be0&start=2828&end=5954","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5868516-83900ac17ce1bf89af67536c03b08be0/thumbnail_2828000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/5972770/Washington/Study-Washington-farm-sectors-losing-competitive-share-potatoes-a-notable-exception","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5972770-be8bc8d67c94999baab749083cf97b77/orig.mp4?Expires=1773595649&Signature=it2M3sWhC6Lqd5OQahVsbkIWbI90879SnEScwh36MVUzRmvb4zeYKE6zGI-n00DTIlLkpjqwsu8iQw~vhj7cH~0Y1z87tOZLgYQDvVjibSkmcyPaHzognrhYC2DwX3Nk9L5QJ1rlqVD-Ce9usdMBu8DDjg6gLQ4K7QwmEfG1R4V6bdbLgsEHHCFWbcyoHjVNgyKHhjivjPFJPoPI9Kln-ZPjfgkbDegYJ0DVn8N4eam0tPWw61YoQUzMOjHpa1OVwW3HEGLhkC6V-F7Zk60EtUKpXK5VzL1Jn4aTAmFRVUywbMvnGHWmvSOflPisfvccgwUW~oqodooO81uDjXDV-w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Washington","date","2025-09-30T00:00:00Z","article","A WSU Impact Center study contracted by the Washington State Department of Agriculture found most Washington farm sectors lost competitive ground to peer states and national trends between 2017 and 2023, while potato production was an exception that gained relative share. The department told the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee that an interim report is expected in December and a final report by June 2026.

The study, presented to the committee by Thomas B. Mick endowed chair Randy Fortenberry of Washington State University, analyzed six commodity groups and small/diversified operations and used enterprise budgets, surveys of producers and shift-share analysis to compare Washington’s growth versus national and peer-state trends. “Competitiveness is assessed based on relative growth rates,” Fortenberry said during his presentation.

Why it matters: the study ties declining competitiveness to rising production costs that outpaced farm-gate receipts in many sectors. Fortenberry said producers in multiple commodities reported significant portions of revenue dedicated to complying with state-level regulation — for example, survey results cited about 26% of dairy revenue and roughly 46% of potato revenue devoted to regulatory and wage-related costs in the budgets the impact center assembled. Farm returns in several surveyed commodity budgets were negative for 2023 after those costs were included.

Key findings presented to the committee included: dairy producers reported roughly 26% of revenue went to compliance-related costs and a net return of about negative $2,587 for the year modeled; grape producers’ reported compliance share was reported at about 76% of revenue and modeled net returns near negative $4,000; potato producers reported a high regulatory/wage share but positive modeled returns of about $1,400 per acre in 2023. Fortenberry said potatoes were the only commodity in the analysis that showed a sustained improvement in competitive share relative to peer states.

The shift-share results and location-quotient calculations indicated Washington’s specialization in several commodities (apples, wheat, grapes, hops in particular) had declined relative to national peers over the 2017–2023 window, with the exception of potatoes. Fortenberry summarized: “Shift share analysis suggests that the overall competitiveness is declining. Competitiveness relative to our peer states is declining in Washington for all sectors except potatoes.”

The department and researchers told the committee producers identified labor-related costs (wage levels, overtime, and associated compliance) and time spent on licensing and chemical application records as significant contributors to compliance expense. Fortenberry cautioned the composition of precision-ag tools and adoption varies by practice: “If you were to ask how many farmers are using GPS in some shape, size or form, that number is very high. But if you say how many of them are actually actuating variable rate irrigation systems, that number drops significantly.”

Federal and international trade shifts also emerged in the presentation as drivers of uncertainty. Fortenberry reviewed how tariffs and retaliatory measures in prior years — and recent tariff moves — affected exports of wheat, soy, apples and other products and noted that trade disruptions can lead to multi-year losses in market share. He told the committee the 2018–19 tariff episode caused large reductions in some export markets and that rebuilding lost markets can take years.

Discussion and next steps: the Department of Agriculture said it contracted WSU to identify structural and non-structural improvements and is reviewing the impact-center’s work with stakeholders; the department plans to publish an interim report in December and a final package by June 2026. Committee members pressed for more granular data and asked researchers and agency staff to return with policy options to address the cost and access issues producers described.

Ending note: committee members asked for the study materials and the impact-center contact information; the presenters and staff said the full report and slide deck would be shared with committee members for follow-up.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Agriculture & Natural Resources - 9/30/2025 10:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","A WSU Impact Center study contracted by the Washington State Department of Agriculture found most Washington farm sectors lost competitive ground to peer states and national trends between 2017 and 2023, while potato production was an exception that gained relative share.","taxTitle","Legislative Sessions, Washington","taxId",20248,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":56,"_72":73,"_74":73},5972759,"State agriculture director outlines programs, pest threats and export markets amid farm losses",3230,134000,3364000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5868516-83900ac17ce1bf89af67536c03b08be0&start=134&end=3364","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5868516-83900ac17ce1bf89af67536c03b08be0/thumbnail_134000.jpg","/articles/5972759/Washington/State-agriculture-director-outlines-programs-pest-threats-and-export-markets-amid-farm-losses","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5972759-5a6b4fec10f3bce961f1b4a53e568f47/orig.mp4?Expires=1773595649&Signature=kjrb0uauvwOtjLJaZ~xltcPVvjUS413oisvfF74RwxXvTvnc7oYLgnyDbY506ULJCYKUCU~0eys0BaSJoTQGurRWndxWG~aeYWzbXRntkJx4pna1HKesRxFxDOGA-gUVVrd1TfS9F7bbBY7DuEFq96SVyFEz2-OaBBQSL4PUVy5YqzPMfy4EiOVDAhD69Y4VN5ZBJFxiXtyBoGQZ3iejwyNkp95Wh~7NeBUJCJd1ZPdYDM2joqZO-ZPQqScFiup11ZZAg5jA5Ffir5TKueUa2jZXIGlDyaWpvY7fo5l4KJ27JBoA52b5CiBK8q6x4c-pKGBtb-YKf5YF4E17l-QUvw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Derek Sandison, director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee that the department enforces phytosanitary inspections, implements the Food Safety Modernization Act at the state level, manages pesticide and fertilizer registration, and conducts plant and animal disease control. He said the department also supports marketing and food access programs.

Sandison summarized key state agriculture statistics from the 2022 Census of Agriculture: 32,076 farms in Washington, down from about 35,700 in 2017. He said 82% of farms are less than 180 acres and that the median farm in the dataset is roughly 30 acres with a net income estimate of about $5,000, stressing that about 90% of total farm-gate value is produced by roughly 10% of farms. Sandison placed Washington’s aggregate crop value at about $12,000,000,000 and identified apples as the single largest crop at about $2,000,000,000 in value.

On export markets, Sandison said Canada is Washington’s largest buyer, followed by Japan and Mexico. He noted frozen potatoes, fish and seafood, apples, wheat and dairy among the state’s top exports and said the USMCA regional market framework is important for Washington producers.

Sandison also listed the department’s active programs and priorities aimed at supporting viability: farm-to-school purchasing grants, infrastructure grants for mid-supply-chain improvements, local food purchase assistance (a USDA program), targeted efforts for underrepresented farmers, international market work and pest and disease response. He told the committee the department is combating Japanese beetle in Yakima Valley, managing responses to highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks, completed eradication work on the northern giant hornet and conducts surveillance for pests not yet present, including spotted lanternfly.

He said the department has contributed to a vacant-lands analysis to identify land that could help new and entry-level farmers access property, and that climate resilience programming and the STAR (Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources) program are underway as part of state climate resilience planning.

Sandison said the department is reviewing the WSU competitiveness analysis with internal and external stakeholders and expects to publish an interim report in December and a final report by June 2026.","Washington State Department of Agriculture Director Derek Sandison summarized agency responsibilities, the state’s crop profile and active programs to protect and promote farm viability, and described pest and disease threats and export market dependencies.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":56,"_72":73,"_74":73},5972764,"WSU highlights precision agriculture, broadband and workforce as priorities to support state farms",989,621000,1610000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5868516-83900ac17ce1bf89af67536c03b08be0&start=621&end=1610","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5868516-83900ac17ce1bf89af67536c03b08be0/thumbnail_621000.jpg","/articles/5972764/Washington/WSU-highlights-precision-agriculture-broadband-and-workforce-as-priorities-to-support-state-farms","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5972764-c6569c1ad103bc888a26998ced046f40/orig.mp4?Expires=1773595649&Signature=b0A4-K6za4FFKl0mRG8z3yVc7Qwdg~DYMS6XB1yq-C4RkXWrdJU52ZoNajvU9se1VY6e-1C~EN3k1zEMHIPe5JrKY5TLbEGyDPFyInK-fjWd~LDpThrFFtCJw9Le-SWTTXSUp0OoAZ58K7p3Ls6DZqnWgycf94X4FZ9bznCeqwrIAA70jqxQGL3Na-f-4nEF8pOy9sVe~XR9KNVlGUMtVV0vqJovbyGxCSPaIok2wQ3AENu2oz80yXAKshKBAgCUUBTax04i-PDXuQGgRFsl7cl8OalqpLWPiEOdwEtg0wLzmaFJ7hkvlmSRnms7Apvg3qcU9mNzUcP6ZO9tBPkMfQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Raj Khosla, the newly appointed dean of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences, told the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee that WSU’s tripartite land-grant mission — education, research and extension — underpins agricultural viability across the state and that the college will partner with state policymakers on workforce, research and outreach needs.

Khosla described the college’s statewide footprint and activities: degree programs at Pullman and multiple campuses, a network of research and extension centers (Mount Vernon, Puyallup, Prosser, Wenatchee and others), 40 extension locations across the state and a fiscal-year 2025 external funding portfolio that he said totaled “more than $114,000,000” in extramural funding for agricultural research. “We are a major land grant institution,” he said, and called education of the agriculture workforce a priority.

Khosla emphasized precision agriculture and “frugal innovation” as areas where WSU sees potential to offset labor pressures in labor-intensive crops. He said the college’s researchers are developing low-cost, printed, battery-less soil sensors that — if commercialized and mass-produced — could cost less than a dollar each and help growers make irrigation decisions during drought. He said broadband connectivity in rural areas is a constraining factor for scaling precision-ag tools and urged state support to close gaps so growers can use modern automation and data systems.

Khosla also described outreach programs: 4‑H youth development, the Master Gardener program and WSU Energy Program efforts to improve efficiency and bioenergy research, and said Connors awards about $1,000,000 in scholarships annually. He told the committee that extension is the university’s “front door” and that local, field-based research centers have been operating for decades.

He concluded by offering the college as a partner to the committee and the legislature on priorities for the state’s agricultural future.","Washington State University’s new dean of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences told a House committee the college’s research, extension and education programs support more than 300 crops statewide and emphasized broadband, precision-ag research and workforce development as priorities.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Study: Washington farm sectors losing competitive share; potatoes a notable exception

State agriculture director outlines programs, pest threats and export markets amid farm losses

WSU highlights precision agriculture, broadband and workforce as priorities to support state farms