Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) and fellow members of the House Agriculture Committee this weekend convened a field hearing in Yakima, Washington to review federal farm policy. Approximately 75 producers, agribusiness leaders, and agriculture officials attended the hearing. Seven members of the Agriculture Committee received feedback from members of the Northwest Agriculture community on a variety of farm policy issues including specialty crops, conservation programs, and marketing issues.  Three of the witnesses that offered testimony - Kraig Knutzen, Mike Youngquist, and Larry Stap - were from Washington state’s 2nd Congressional District.

“This was a highly productive meeting that gave the members of the Agriculture Committee a chance to hear about the diverse and unique needs of Washington state growers and producers,” said Larsen. “This field hearing voiced the importance of Agriculture to Washington state, and showed the crucial differences of the agriculture industry in the Northwest from elsewhere in the country.”

Washington’s agriculture industry accounts for a fifth of the state’s annual gross product and employs 173,000 people. The state ranks first in the nation in its production of apples, pears, sweet cherries, carrots, and red raspberries.  Washington ranks third in the production of specialty crops.

“Washington state producers stressed the importance of specialty crops to our Agriculture industry and requested more avenues to promote, research and market their crops in the upcoming farm bill,” Larsen said. “As the Agriculture Committee reexamines Specialty Crops and their position in the upcoming Farm Bill, I will echo the comments heard at this field hearing and stress the importance of Specialty Crop programs that allow our farmers to compete in a changing industry,” he continued.

“I will fight for programs that are vital to the success of Washington growers and producers like Specialty Crop Block Grants which give farmers opportunities to increase the competitiveness of their products, and the Market Access Program which gives producers increased access to foreign markets through promotional and marketing efforts,” Larsen said.

“As the agriculture industry grows and changes, Congress must continue to invest in innovation to increase agricultural competitiveness. We must give farmers the tools they need to add value to their products and we must promote ways for our agriculture producers to benefit from increased export opportunities,” said Larsen.

This was the Committee’s seventh in a series of field hearings to gather producer feedback about farm policy in preparation for reauthorizing the 2002 Farm Bill which expires in 2007.  The Farm Bill authorizes a range of programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture including commodity, trade, conservation, credit, agricultural research, nutrition, and marketing.

Larsen is the only member of the House Agriculture Committee from Washington state. 

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