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Wednesday, May 8, 2019 • lyndentribune.com • ferndalerecord.com
Plowing Match is May 18 at Berthusen Park
2017 ag census: Whatcom small farms rising But many other signals point to decline in local agriculture By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
WHATCOM — The number of small farms less than 10 acres in size is growing steadily in the county. That statistic stands out as a pattern evident across the last three fiveyear censuses of agriculture, according to the 2017 one released in April. Whatcom County had 1,712 farms in 2017, of which 701 consisted of 9.9 acres or less. The tiny-farms tally was 578 in 2012, 393 in 2007 and 287 in 2002.
Farms in all other larger acreage categories have approximately held steady or decreased in number over the same 15 years, the census shows. Mediumsized farms of 50 to 499 acres went from totalling 526 in the county in 2002 to 307 in 2017. The total number of acres in farming in Whatcom was 148,027 in 2002. That dropped sharply to 102,584 by 2007, rebounded some to 115,831 in 2012 and was at 102,523 in 2017. The size of operations, both by average and by median calculation, has gone down consistently over the last three censuses. Investment in ag land, including buildings, has consistently gone up, to where it has surpassed $1 million per operation and is almost to $17,000 per acre. The number of operations in cropland was 1,267, slightly more than in 2002. The number of acres in crops dropped slightly,
however, in the range of 8.7 percent to 15.6 percent. More than half of those operations and acres had irrigation. Sales of crops and commodities have been on a general although modest rise in Whatcom agriculture since 2002. The total value is pegged at $372.9 million in 2017, of which $154 million is in crops and about $219 million is in animals and their products. Federal government dollars to boost agriculture were less in 2017 than in any of the previous three censuses. Total farm operating expenses across the county had gone up more than 50 percent in 15 years while net cash farm income had gone down about 30 percent. The Whatcom report is online at https://www. nass.usda.gov/Quick_ Stats/CDQT/chapter/2/ table/1/state/WA/county/073.
The International Plowing Match is about preserving the tradition of true horsepower. (File photo) LYNDEN — This is a look ahead to events on the schedule of the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds. The International Plowing Match is unique in that it is fair-sponsored but held on the west side of Berthusen Park, off West Badger Road, at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18. • WA State Good Sams RV Rally, May 1-5 • Northwest Reining
Association Show, May 3-5 • Happy Wanderers RV Rally, May 6-10 • WA High School Equestrian District 7 meet, May 10-12 • Irish Water Spaniel Show, May 13-15 • Mt. Baker Kennel Club show, May 17-20 • B.C. Morgan Horse Show, May 31-June 2 • Northwest Reining Association Show, June
7-9 • Royal Rovers RV Rally, June 10-13 • SKP (Escapees) RV Rally, June 17-20 • Alycia Burton Free Riding Tour, June 19-20 • Whatcom County 4-H Leaders Show, June 21-23 • AVA Region III Vaulting Show, June 28-30 • Extreme Midget Wrestling, June 29
Old Indian, Harley-Davidson and other motorcycles win the admiration of those attending the Northwest Motorcycle Classic on the Lynden fairgrounds Saturday, April 27. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)