Opinion - Our View

POSTED: Saturday, Jul. 18, 2009

Argicultural preservation key to county's economy

On July 5 we published an editorial expressing our continuing belief local political leaders must do what they can to preserve and protect our community's agricultural lands and farming way of life.

A lot of that discussion was based on the wishes of the majority of citizens of Whatcom County, who have stated again and again in the past 25 years that preserving rural life is the No. 1 priority they have for the county. That is an important and laudable goal in a community in which the population continues to increase even in a poor economy.

But as raspberry production jumped into full swing this past week, it's important to note that the reason for preserving and protecting agriculture is not just sentimentality around open spaces and rural, country life. Agriculture is a core component of the Whatcom County economy.

Economists estimate 6,000 people will work harvesting, packing and shipping raspberries through the six-week raspberry season. Raspberry fields now cover around 7,500 acres of the county.

Farmers and their employees on those acres produce about one-third of all of the raspberries in Washington State, 22,000 metric tons in 2008. That compares favorable to entire countries around the world, such as Chile, which produced 40,000 metric tons last year.

Simply put, raspberries are big, big business in Whatcom County. And, of course, there are thousands more people working in other businesses that support farms in our county, particularly in the northern reaches.

By the most recent numbers available, farms in our county create $287 million a year in farm "gate value" - a measurement of how much money farm products are making. That figure does not include the economic impact of the farm jobs and farm-support businesses. Combined, the agriculture industry makes up roughly 15 percent of the total county economy.

That makes Whatcom County the number one agricultural county in Western Washington, and sixth in the entire state, according to U.S. Census figures. We rank in the top 3 percent of agricultural counties in the nation, the Census said.

As our cities grow, it's possible that people start to think of Whatcom County as a more urban place - a smaller but growing version of King County, or Pierce or Snohomish Counties. It is great that our city cores are becoming more vibrant and fun, with more options for living, working and enjoying life.

But any presumption that Whatcom County is not a farming community, and that natural resources don't still play a vital role in our economy, are very mistaken. And it's important to note that we need that industry to thrive and survive. We have lost a lot of what was once the core of our economy as fishing has faded and timber has subsided. We cannot live, economically, on retailing and services alone.

As we did two weeks ago, we urge local citizens and political leaders to embrace the importance of our farms and to work tirelessly to support and protect those businesses, and the lands they must have to prosper. Such support and protection can help guarantee a strong local economy into the future.