All-new documentary “Farming on the Brink” provides an unfiltered look at the increasing challenges confronting local farming, particularly the rising costs necessary to sustain operations. Launched publicly last week, this upcoming film chronicles the journey of Manuel Imperial, a committed second-generation farmer whose family immigrated from the Philippines over 40 years ago and begin farming in Wapato, Washington. He joins Dillon to talk about the new film and grappling with preserving his family’s farm in the face of escalating regulations and overwhelming expenses.
Whatcom County has a long and storied history of farming, and what farming looks like in the county now is much different than many decades ago, often with only old barns remaining as landmarks of the farms that once were. Jeff Barclay, a retiree with a longtime love of photography, joins Dillon with details on his passion project to document all the old barns in the county–an effort that so far has already produced two locally-available photo books, called Old Barns of Whatcom County and Old Barns of Whatcom County, Volume 2.
Embarrassing revelations from internal documents are exposing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s true motive behind legal attacks against three Washington state dairies in the Lower Yakima Valley–and it’s not protecting public health or the environment. Jay Gordon, Policy Director at the Washington State Dairy Federation, joins Dillon to call out the ugly truth behind the EPA’s and U.S. Department of Justice’s abusive legal games that have already pushed multiple longtime family farms out of business, apparently with no end in sight.
It’s the 15th year of the Lynden Ag Show, and over 500 farmers, farm support businesses, university researchers and others are expected to attend the show Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 3-4. Chris Benedict, Professor and Regional Extension Specialist with Washington State University, joins Dillon with details on the event, which includes the Washington Small Fruit Conference and the Northwest Potato Conference as part of the show.
Even though we just celebrated Thanksgiving, most of us didn’t think much about the struggles that farmers–who grew the food that we ate–are facing not just to produce food, but to stay in business at all. Pam Lewison, Director of the Center for Agriculture at the Washington Policy Center, joins Dillon with a breakdown of those pressures and struggles that she shared in a recent article, and how we can do more to be aware of farmers this holiday season.
Not only does her legal declaration against Washington dairy farms have major scientific problems, but new documents show University of Wisconsin-Madison environmental professor Rebecca Larson was paid over $200,000 to produce the flawed testimony for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lawsuit. Ben Tindall, Save Family Farming’s Executive Director, joins Dillon with a look at how the troubling revelations were revealed through public records requests, and what the exorbitant sum of taxpayer dollars means for the credibility of the EPA’s case.
Local farmers are calling out the Washington State Department of Ecology for adding to local confusion about its Whatcom water rights adjudication lawsuit with a recent attempt to correct “rumors” and “misinformation.” Fred Likkel, Whatcom Family Farmers’ Executive Director, joins Dillon with a breakdown of Ecology’s inaccuracies and an update on the ongoing adjudication court case.
Recent data shows Washington state’s net farm income has plummeted to among nearly the worst in the nation, following years of state measures ratcheting up a long list of farming costs. Randy Fortenbery, an agricultural economist at Washington State University, joins Dillon with the data and what it indicates may be involved in the big change.
Despite the crippling uncertainty Whatcom County farmers and other water users are facing in the state’s water rights adjudication lawsuit there, a top Washington state expert says there is hope for a resolution to the unfolding crisis. Tom Tebb, the former director of the state’s Office of the Columbia River joins Dillon ahead of his address at Whatcom Family Farmers’ 2025 Farmer Rally to preview what he plans to share about a better path forward for Whatcom water.
In a bizarre turn of events, a Yakima, WA-based anti-farming activist nonprofit required attendees to a recent screening of their propaganda film to disclose their occupation, subsequently charging anyone listing themself as a dairy farmer $535.38 for a ticket, while all others could get a ticket for free. Ben Tindall, Executive Director of Save Family Farming, joins Dillon with details on the apparent attempt to block dairy farmers from attending the Nov. 7 film screening at Sunnyside’s Grand Cinemas Yakima Valley, asking what the activist group may be trying to hide with the puzzling move.
Protecting Whatcom County farming and promoting a settlement to the state’s Whatcom water adjudication lawsuit are the goals of a recently unveiled proposal from County Councilman Ben Elenbaas. Elenbaas, a 4th-generation Whatcom County farmer, joins Dillon with details on the changes he wants to make to a foundational county plan that sets the county’s growth agenda for decades to come. Save Family Farming local affiliate Whatcom Family Farmers recently released a public statement in support of Elenbaas’ proposal, saying they could help mark a path forward in the contentious water rights adjudication that’s cast dark clouds over local farming’s future in Whatcom County.
Farmers and many others across the Pacific Northwest and beyond have followed a unique, regional weather blog over the last more than three decades. Its followers, or “patrons” in The Weather Café parlance, have made its twice-weekly posts part of their weekly routine, relying on its insights for weather-affected planning, particularly when the possibility of major storms or other weather events are predicted. Rufus La Lone, the forecaster behind the blog, joins Dillon the day after his last forecast post, after announcing on Oct. 15 he was retiring from the project. They talk not just about the final two-week weather outlook, but also reflect on 31 years of The Weather Café, including some of the major storms and weather events covered, the blog’s unique approach, and how it became a fixture in the lives of tens of thousands of people across the region.
President Donald Trump’s move to allow more cheap beef from Argentina into the United States sparked a swift backlash from U.S. cattle ranchers. Chelsea Hajny, Washington Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President, joins Dillon with the Washington state ranchers’ reaction to the move and Trump’s upsetting comments about it.
Accusing dairies in the Lower Yakima Valley of polluting groundwater, the U.S. Department of Justice, working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, hired University of Wisconsin-Madison scientist Dr. Rebecca Larson to make a legal declaration in support of their court case against the dairies. But Stu Turner, an environmental contamination investigation expert, shows how Larson’s declaration amounts to bad science, and joins Dillon with details not only on how she got it wrong, but on the truth about the dairies currently in DOJ’s and EPA’s crosshairs.
In vitro fertilization technology is changing the way farmers improve their herd’s genetics, allowing them to raise the healthiest, best-producing animals much more quickly than traditional breeding. And now Whatcom County is home to a facility where farmers can bring cows to use this technology. McKenzie Corpron, an embryologist with Trans Ova Genetics, joins Dillon with details on the company’s new satellite center housed at Mark Van Mersbergen’s former Lynden-area dairy, Markwell Holsteins.
The Washington state farming community is speaking out against a new state plan to force large forested buffers on non-fish-bearing streams in working forest lands. Farmers recognize the dangerous precedent the unscientific proposal would create for forcing similar buffers on farmland, ultimately harming fish while pushing countless family farms in our region out of business (read Save Family Farming’s earlier letter to state officials about this bad idea here). Dr. Elaine Oneil, Executive Director of the Washington Farm Forestry Association, joins Dillon again with more details and new ways for people to tell Olympia to stop this misguided plan before an expected decision in November. You can listen to Dillon’s earlier conversation with Dr. Oneil and Whatcom County small family farm forest owner Tom Westergreen here.
Many people, including news reporters, have been confused by recent layoff notices from Washington farms creating suspicion of major farm closures. But what most don’t realize is that the layoffs are the routine annual conclusion of seasonal farm jobs that haven’t required such notices until state lawmakers changed the rules this spring. Erik Zavala, Director of Field Staff for Wenatchee-based cooperative Blue Bird, tells Dillon even though the layoffs are routine and expected by the affected employees, the new reporting requirement has caught many people–even within the farming community–completely off guard.
Ongoing drought conditions have led to water shortages in the Yakima River Basin severe enough that water to many farms has been shut off. Sunnyside-area dairy farmer Jason Sheehan, who also serves on the board of the affected Roza Irrigation District, joins Dillon and Whatcom Family Farmers Executive Director Fred Likkel to explain what the shutoffs have meant for farming, and how the collaborative Yakima Basin Integrated Plan has helped tribes, farmers and others share and protect the dwindling water supply.
Most people probably don’t know that Washington state is number two in the nation for producing organic food. And demand for organic food nationally and globally continues to grow. But Melissa Spear, the Executive Director of Seattle-based Tilth Alliance that advocates and assists many organic growers as part of its focus on supporting Washington’s local and sustainable food movement, tells Dillon that WA organic growers also face many challenges and uncertainty right now. This episode is part two of a two-part conversation. You can find part one here.
Most people probably don’t know that Washington state is number two in the nation for producing organic food. And demand for organic food nationally and globally continues to grow. But Melissa Spear, the Executive Director of Seattle-based Tilth Alliance that advocates and assists many organic growers as part of its focus on supporting Washington’s local and sustainable food movement, tells Dillon that WA organic growers also face many challenges and uncertainty right now. This episode is part one of a two-part conversation. You can find part two here.