Sandison: Washington Ag Strong

Overall, the state of Washington’s agriculture sector remains strong.  That was the assessment made by Washington state Department of Agriculture director Derek Sandison during his keynote address at Central Washington University’s 2017 Economic Outlook Conference Tuesday.

“We have over 300 crops and commodities produced commercially in the state.  And because of that, we have the ability to have difficulties in some sectors, but doing well in others, so again, on balance we do quite well in this state.  The quality of Washington agricultural products basically sell themselves.”

Specifically, Sandison listed apples, hops, and poultry as among the sectors that are flourishing, in part because of strong domestic markets.  He pointed to dairy and wheat being down, due to increased global production and a strong U.S. dollars which, in some instances, means producers are not even meeting their cost of production.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com