
Tree Fruit Industry Front And Center In Olympia
Last week, the Washington Tree Fruit sector took to Olympia to focus on legislative issues and the impact they will have on growers, packers and workers. Jon DeVaney, President of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association said staff joined 41 volunteers for Tree Fruit Day, an effort to educate lawmakers about an industry that employs over 68,000 people and produces approximately $3 billion in annual wages and benefits.
“Most of them were receptive and somewhat surprised. You know, there's always a lot of turnover in the legislature and there's quite a few members that don't have agriculture in their districts; a lot of urban and suburban members," DeVaney pointed out. "And one of the first things that we wanted to talk to all of them about is the ag economy. You know, they see the prices at the grocery store going up and they assume that that means that returns to the grower are rising. And so, we provided them with some statistics showing that, yes the retail price has been rising, but the wholesale price received by growers has remained flat, and for a lot of varieties has even declined.”
DeVaney added they tried to stress to lawmakers that there’s little to no ability on the part of growers to absorb more costs and mandates from government right now. He said some of the biggest issues the WSTFA will follow this session include; Ag Overtime, Climate Commitment Act Reimbursements, as well as funding requests by Washington State University.
DeVaney said while Tree Fruit Day may have come and gone, he wants growers and workers to stay active by testifying, which can be done remotely.
“Now the legislature is really institutionalized, letting citizens register their views on bills around hearings and sort of sign in, pro or con on them, and sign up to testify via Zoom or Teams so that they can let their views be known.”
If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com
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