If you hung in there with me on the last commentary about the agricultural landscape of Washington state, let’s now try Lewis County agriculture on for size.
Remember, this information comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture.
When comparing the 2022 census to the 2017 census, the number of farms in Lewis County dropped 9%. Not a good thing, in my opinion. We have 118,915 acres in farmland, which is a drop of 3%, with the average farm size increasing by 7%. The average farm in Lewis County saw a 58% increase in total production expenses — significantly above the state’s average of 46%. Ouch. In Lewis County, 46% of our farms sell less than $2,500 of products. Of our sales, 42% were crops and 58% were livestock, poultry and products from them. We have 53,115 acres of cropland, 28,372 acres of pasture, 30,180 acres of woodland and 7,248 acres declared as “other.”
Some interesting facts about our 1,565 Lewis County farms: We have 1,565 male producers and 1,222 female producers on our 118,915 acres; 52% of farmers are 35 to 64 years old; 40% are 65 and older; 11% have served in the military (Washington’s average is 10%); and 933 (33%) are new or beginning farmers.
The census also tells us that of the farmers in Lewis County: 2% farm organically; 8% sell directly to consumers; 21% hire labor; only 83% have internet access (I know I was very happy to get Starlink last year so that I now have good internet access, but I still have a few choice words for my cell phone when it decides I really do not need to be talking to anybody from my home); and 97% are family owned.
Our top crops include: 27,756 acres of hay; 6,627 acres of cultivated Christmas trees; 4,074 acres of seed crops; 1,561 acres of berries; and 1,529 acres of blueberries.
When it comes to our critters, as of Dec. 31, 2022, we had: 3,693,542 meat chickens (71% of Washington’s total production); 20,014 cattle; 6,919 laying hens; 2,016 horses and ponies; 1,711 sheep and lambs; 1,493 goats; 1,239 pullets; 735 turkeys; and 407 hogs and pigs.
When we look at the 39 counties in Washington producing food, Lewis County ranks 16th in overall sales, 18th in crops and 10th in livestock, poultry and related products.
Lewis County is: No. 1 in cultivated Christmas trees; Mo. 11 in poultry and eggs; No. 8 in sheep, goats, wool, mohair and milk; No. 9 in horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys; No. 10 in aquaculture; No. 11 in milk from cows; No. 12 nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod; No. 13 in vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes; No. 13 in fruits, tree nuts and berries; No. 13 in hogs and pigs; No. 14 in other crops and hay; No. 16 in other animals and animal products; No. 18 in cattle and calves; and No. 23 for grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas (this is an area local farmers are increasing the last couple years with the forming of our Growers Co-op and the building of a grain loading facility at the Port of Chehalis).
I dug through some more pages of information and gleaned our average farm is 76 acres and we irrigate 9,520 acres.
As I said in the last commentary, there is a lot more information for those who like statistics — if you want more information for every county, every state and the nation, you can get it at www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus.
Bottom line, the message I want to leave with everyone is that agriculture is important to every one of us. We all need affordable, quality food. The best way to have that is from local family farms, and we have them right here in Lewis County.
COVID-19 did motivate some people to find local foods and to buy directly from farmers whether it be at farmers markets or direct, on-farm sales. Efforts are underway to get USDA-inspected processing facilities established locally to make it even easier for people to buy locally grown meats.
That helps everyone in Lewis County as it will enable farmers to have more control of how their animals are processed and it will allow consumers to buy locally sourced meats from farmers they know.
We have top quality farms and farmers in Lewis County. Agriculture benefits all of us by adding to our economy and supporting local businesses. Our farmers give back to their communities — they sit on school boards, serve as volunteer firefighters, work as elected officials and as volunteers in many roles.
At the end of the day, they are important members of our community who feed all of us, and they deserve our respect and gratitude.
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Maureen Harkcom is president of the Lewis County Farm Bureau. She can be reached at maureen.harkcom@gmail.com.
