Country Life Wednesday, February 12, 2020 • lyndentribune.com • ferndalerecord.com
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Raspberry growers willing to spend $600,000 in ‘fair trade’ fight Decisions to be made at April board meeting — also on a change in assessments By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
LYNDEN — The Washington Red Raspberry Commission board of directors passed a 2020 budget of $1.67 million at its Jan. 22 meeting. An ambitious 35 percent of the budget, $600,000, is devoted to a “fair trade” effort. “We are currently engaged in a case assessment with our trade attorneys in D.C. The results of this assessment will determine if we file a case against importing countries or not,” states the February commission newsletter. The case would be primarily focused on protecting Washington raspberry growers’ puree markets against byproducts of the Mexican fresh raspberry industry “which have created unsustainable pricing for the
majority of our growers,” according to the commission. The case assessment by the legal firm of King & Spalding is expected to be completed in March and then the WRRC Board will have to decide whether to initiate a fair trade legal action. Across the state are 75 growers, of which all but eight are based in Whatcom County. The harvest in 2019 produced more than 66 million pounds of berries to be frozen for processing, but that yield is below the past five-year average. Other parts of the budget are: $420,000 for marketing, $250,827 for health research, and almost $180,000 for production research. The Washington commission is in its second year of taking over functions of a National Processed Raspberry Council that was heading up the industry’s health research and raspberry product promotion. The budget arises mostly from a 2-cents-per-pound assessment on the farmers’ crop, although in 2020 about $240,000 for health research is carried over from the NPRC closure.
Lynden raspberry grower Brad Rader talks to a group visiting Whatcom farms last July. The February newsletter also reports that the board of directors has decided to look at a new assessment policy whereby IQF packs — the highest-value Individual Quick Frozen berries
— would pay a higher percentage of assessments, with puree at a somewhat reduced percentage and juice an even lower rate, reflecting the value of these packs in the marketplace.
However, this would require changes in the state-mandated policies governing the commission. This topic will be on the agenda of the board’s April 15 meeting.
Ericksen wants to make it easier to buy local meat His bill would enable custom slaughterhouses OLYMPIA — Consumers and farmers would have new opportunities to buy and sell locally raised beef, pork, lamb and other meat products under a bill sponsored in the 2020 legislative session by Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale. Since January, SSB 6382 has gone through a revision by majority Dem-
ocrats, however, and is in Senate Ways and Means Committee. The measure would permit “custom slaughterhouses” to sell meat by the cut, creating a new market for Washington famers who raise livestock for eventual human consumption. Ericksen’s measure would expand a state meatinspection program. “This bill would create a new market for Washington farmers and give consumers a way to purchase locally,” Ericksen said. “The
way the rules work right now, if you want to buy local, you have to buy in bulk. But how many of us have freezers big enough for half a cow?” Federal rules require all meat sold in restaurants, farmers markets and wholesale and retail outlets to be processed at facilities inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But small farmers have trouble gaining access to that channel. Increasingly these USDA-inspected slaughter-
ing facilities are large operations that cater to large producers. Since passage of federal meat-inspection rules in 1967, the number of USDA-inspected slaughterhouses in Washington has declined 90 percent, from about 1,000 to 100. Many process animals by the herd and deal only in beef. For small producers — those with just a few animals to process — the only option is to work with a “custom slaughterhouse,” or obtain their own slaugh-
tering license, according to Ericksen. These smaller custom operations are overseen by state inspectors. Customers can purchase an entire animal prior to slaughter, or a share of it, and have it cut to order. But this requires them to buy in bulk, and the meat cannot be resold. Ericksen’s bill would allow custom slaughterers to sell state-inspected meat by the cut. Currently, the state licenses 17 custom slaughterhouses, 72 farm slaughterers and 103
custom meat facilities that perform cutting and wrapping. “As USDA-inspected meat-packing operations get bigger and bigger, the federal inspection requirements are becoming a bottleneck for small producers,” Ericksen said. “In my district, in Whatcom County, USDA inspections aren’t even available anymore. This bill will create new opportunities for farmers and consumers, and give local farm production the boost it deserves.”
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