madi clark

When you think about courts impacting your day to day life, you most likely think of the U.S. Supreme Court.  However, as Madi Clark with the Washington Policy Center pointed out, the Washington state Supreme Court has with in the last couple of years had two very big rulings that negatively impacted farmers statewide.  Sh...

Crop insurance and farm subsidies may sound like simple topics to discuss in the agriculture community, but you'll quickly learn it's anything but simple.  The Washington Policy Center recently held their Solutions Summit in Spokane, where they focused on those two  issues which are key during a Farm Bill year.   ...

Agriculture producers across Washington are scrambling, trying to determine what their future looks like after the state Supreme Court recently struck down the piece rate system.  Earlier this month, justices ruled workers must be paid for both productive work, such as picking fruit, and non-productive work, such as move ladders, boxes, etc.  Th...

The Washington Policy Center recently looked at the variety of pressures facing farmers and growers, outside of feeding a growing world population.  WPC’s Madi Clark says one of the top struggles is meeting consumer demand that food remain affordable.  Currentl...

The Washington Policy Center says it’s Farm to Free Market Dinner in Pasco in early February was a huge success.  The WPC’s Madi Clark says over 250 people filed in to the Red Lion to hear from Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, as well as Maurice McTeague, former member of the New Zealand parliament.  She said the m...

Thursday, the Washington state Supreme Court heard arguments challenging the piece-rate pay system.  The plaintiffs in the case worked for the Dovex Fruit Company as piece-rate employees picking fruit.  The two argue that the piece rate weekly average violates Washington Minimum Wage Act, since they were not pair directly for non-picking activities, such as carrying ladders, waiting for equipment

Washington farmers have faced ag labor shortages year after year, but according to a new study by the Washington Policy Center the problem has increased in recent years.  The WPC’s Madi Clark over 96% of farms experienced a labor disruption of some kind last year.  And she ...

Is it worth it to be a farmer in Washington?  That’s a question many in the ag community ask themselves with regularity, whether it’s daily, weekly or once a year.  It’s also the focus on a recent blog published by Madi Clark of the Washington Policy Center.  Clark told the Washington...

The Washington Policy Center will host it’s first ever Agriculture Policy Dinner, Monday at the Red Lion Hotel in Pasco.  The WPC’s Madi Clark said Washington needs to have a higher consideration for agriculture in its policy discussion, and hopefully next week’s Farm to Free Market dinner will do that.   “So often in ...