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

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…