Agriculture is a profession of hope. 

When a farmer plants a seed in the soil and watches for the first green shoots to peek out, it is hope. When a livestock producer checks pens in the dark looking for babies to bring into the warm of a ranch kitchen, it is hope.

Washington state is filled with 35,000 farmers and ranchers who persevered through 2019 with hope.

The legislative session opened with attacks on how farmers treat their workers, how they protect their livestock from predators, and how they pay taxes to their counties and the state. When the session ended, farmers and ranchers had defended themselves with the truth about their pursuits to be compassionate employers, stewards of livestock and the environment, and to contribute as responsible citizens of Washington.

The H-2A and ag slavery bills that were introduced early in the 2019 legislative session highlighted the need to discuss agricultural labor in more detail.

The H-2A program, which allows farmers and ranchers to hire legal foreign workers for up to 10 months each year, is a federal program administered by each state. The Washington State Employment Security Department requested legislation allowing the department to assess an additional $1,000 per application and $100 per employee on top of the average $1,500 per employee already collected on a federal level to continue administering the program. Washington would have been the only state to levy these additional taxes. Ultimately, the bill removed the tax and a panel was established to determine if a state-only tax is necessary for the administration of the H-2A program. 

Similarly, the ag slavery bill would have required employers to report incidents of slavery, human trafficking, or peonage to legal authorities anywhere in their supply chain. Agricultural groups responded to the bill noting slavery, human trafficking, and peonage are currently illegal in all 50 states.

When a bill was introduced to ban the lethal removal of gray wolves, Rep. Joel Kretz responded with a bill requesting Bainbridge Island become a gray wolf sanctuary. Neither bill gained much traction, but both highlighted the misunderstanding of the larger problem with apex predators in our state: “not in my backyard.” Ranchers in Northeast Washington have been working to coexist with the booming gray wolf population and following all the state’s mandates for non-lethal measures to no avail. When gray wolves are lethally removed through the proper protocols, the uproar is so strong further removals are stopped regardless of need.

Finally, farmers and ranchers found themselves on the defense again at the end of the legislative session when some legislators claimed agriculturalists in our state don’t pay taxes. The response was swift, noting that farmers and ranchers pay taxes just like their neighbors.

Despite the tough year, 35,000 farmers and ranchers in Washington state have continued to hope and look ahead to a new year of challenges, sprouts, and babies in ranch kitchens.