BP FEATURE
AGRICULTURE
will continue to lead Whatcom County’s farmers and ranchers have always had to adapt and innovate. Now is no different. Dustin McKissen
PHOTO: iStockphoto. com/moore
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BUSINESSPULSE.COM | MAY/JUN 2020
“Twenty years ago, hard work was enough to guarantee a living,” said Galen Smith, longtime owner of Coldstream Farms, a dairy in Deming.”Today, farmers and ranchers need to be more sophisticated to survive.” Like many Whatcom County farmers, Smith has been working for decades — long enough to see advanced financial and business strategies become increasingly important to his business. Smith’s dairy has thrived because of his team’s increased business acumen, growing the farm from 400 to more than 1,800 cows. Coldstream’s growth is the result of hard work and Smith’s ability to use financial markets to lock in ingredient prices and proj-
