The state House Agriculture and Nature Resource committee held a work session Tuesday morning on agriculture competitiveness and viability in Washington, where WSU representatives from the College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS) presented on the university’s continued work to support the state’s agricultural sector in partnership with the state Department of Agriculture.
“WSU is the proud research and development arm for our state agriculture industry,” shared Raj Khosla, Dean of CAHNRS. Khosla provided the committee with an overview of the College’s work to support agriculture, which reflects the land grant mission of providing education, research, and service to benefit society. For CAHNRS, Khosla explained that this means “educating the current and future workforce of agriculture…and deliver public service through our wide network of Extension services that are spread across all 39 counties and tribal areas.”
Khosla also noted WSU-led developments that have helped catalyze and strengthen the agricultural economy, with the creation of Rainier cherries, Cosmic Crisp apples, and facilitating the introduction of Wagyu beef into the United States. In sustaining existing crops, Khosla shared that researchers in his college “…breed new varieties of wheat, berries, tree fruit, and other products to fight disease and bolster competitiveness.”
Later in the work session, WSU Professor and Director of the IMPACT Center, Dr. Randy Fortenbery, presented the findings of a recent evaluation that the IMPACT Center conducted on the state’s agricultural competitiveness. The report found that, for those commodities evaluated, Washington producers face an outpacing of production expenses over cash receipts they bring in and that overall competitiveness may be down in the sectors considered, expect for potatoes.
Fortenbery also shared observations about the impact of tariffs on Washington agriculture, sharing that most commodities produced in Washington have some exposure to export markets, including potatoes in the form of French fries, wheat, tree fruit, and seafood to major importers such as China, Canada, Mexico, and Japan. Trade decisions made in the last year have yielded mixed impacts for Washington’s agricultural products with some being exempt from retaliatory tariffs under new trade agreements, while others, like wheat and fruit imports in China, face 15 and 10 percent tariffs respectively.
In terms of where trade impacts may be heading, Fortenbery raised that forecasting is challenged because of political and emotional choices from governments and consumers that influence trade impacts. Fortenbery shared, for example, the refusal by some Canadian businesses to stock American bourbon – even after tariffs on spirits were lifted following the enactment of a trade agreement.
You can watch Dean Khosla’s remarks below, and Dr. Fortenbery’s remarks in two parts; you can find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.