Washington State Dept. of Agriculture: 2018 Farm Bill, international treaties shape WSDA priorities

Our agency’s primary purpose is to support Washington’s agricultural and food sectors while working to foster sound consumer protections and natural resource policies. I’m pleased to discuss some of our accomplishments and to look forward.

Last May, I participated in a trade mission to Mexico. Led by Gov. Inslee, Washington’s delegation visited Guadalajara and Mexico City, meeting with government officials and generally demonstrating the importance of Mexico as a market for Washington agricultural exports, particularly apples and dairy products.

I expect to join U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials on a mission to Guatemala in February and travel to Mexico City with the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association in June 2018 to continue to promote Washington state agricultural products.

In addition to driving and flying to many areas of our state, I spend a considerable amount of time in Washington, D.C., meeting with representatives of the Administration, USDA and other agency officials, as well as members of Congress and their staff.

Through these visits, often with industry representatives or my counterparts from other states, I am able to address federal issues affecting our industry such as the Federal Farm Bill, international trade, and regulatory matters.

The farm bill, renewed every five years, is the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government. It includes titles on commodity programs, trade, rural development, farm credit, crop insurance, conservation, agricultural research, food and nutrition and more.

I have worked with Washington State University President Kirk Schulz’s office and his staff to develop a comprehensive state farm bill priorities document. It has been sent to members of Washington’s congressional delegation, as well as to the chairs and members of the Senate and House agriculture committees. Given the importance of the Farm Bill to Washington’s agricultural industry, I will be working hard to help ensure a positive outcome for our state.

I am pleased that renegotiation of the 1964 Canadian Columbia River Treat recently began. I have advocated for modernization of this very important treaty for a number of years and was part of the team that developed the regional recommendations regarding improvements to the treaty.

The treaty is not the only ongoing process affecting the Columbia River that bears watching. The Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Biological Opinion continues to be litigated in the U.S. District Court of Oregon.

The presiding judge rejected the existing FCRPS Biological Opinion and required the Bonneville Power Administration, the Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Reclamation to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on Columbia River Operations that must consider at least one dam removal alternative. Given the potentially significant ramifications for irrigation and navigation, the Canadian Treaty, the FCRPS Biological Opinion, the Columbia River Operations EIS all bear close watching.

We are in a time of great uncertainty with respect to international trade. With the recent adoption of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by 11 nations, Washington’s agricultural industry finds it itself at a competitive disadvantage in the Asian-Pacific trade arena unless the administration reconsiders its position on TPP, or makes significant programs on developing bilateral agreements with Asia-Pacific countries.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation has been a tumultuous process and has the potential for undermining the tremendous grains that both the U.S.’s and Washington’s agricultural industries have made through the implementation of NAFTA. We are all hopeful that agreement on a modernized NAFTA can be reached without harm to agriculture.

Our new Produce Safety Program operates under a 5-year grant from the Food and Drug Administration. Its mission is to help growers comply with new requirements under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Our work includes workshops for producers on how to meet the new standards.

And, our Weights and Measures inspectors are doing more than the usual monitoring of gas pumps and scales for accuracy. The team collaborated with financial institutions to combat fraud by inspecting fuel dispensers for credit card skimmers, which can steal credit and debit card information from unsuspecting consumers. This problem has occurred far too often across the U.S., including the Tri-Cities.

The 2017 spring dedication of our 4,800 square-foot greenhouse at WSU’s Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center at Prosser is also noteworthy. It replaces a smaller greenhouse we’ve operated there for decades.

The $750,000 greenhouse features improved temperature and advanced irrigation controls and increases private industry’s capacity to sell virus-tested, disease-free stock to orchardists and fruit producers. It was built with fees from the WSDA’s Fruit Tree Certification Program and assessments paid by state nurseries that sell fruit trees.

We’ve started the long process of updating our website at WSDA, which hasn’t been revised in at least a decade. Web technology is a dynamic tool, increasing efficiencies for our staff and facilitating online services for our stakeholders—even allowing for renewal of licenses and paying for the license online.

And, as Tri-City Herald readers know, the Tri-Cities is an excellent location to showcase Washington’s diverse agriculture. WSDA is hosting this year’s annual meeting of ag communicators from across the U.S.

Starting Sept. 30 in Richland, members of the Communications Officers of State Departments of Agriculture (COSDA), an affiliate of the National Association of State Department of Agriculture (NASDA), will promote a greater understanding of the role agriculture plays in our economy, food supply and culture.

This story was originally published April 1, 2018 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Washington State Dept. of Agriculture: 2018 Farm Bill, international treaties shape WSDA priorities."