The Farming Show

It’s no surprise that during a dry summer, people are talking about water issues, including many that involve the farming community.

Ben Tindall, Save Family Farming’s Executive Director, joins Dillon for an update on the advocacy work the organization is focused on currently and into coming weeks and months.

State leaders have said they would provide support for the 30,000-plus water users it has sued in its Whatcom water rights adjudication court case as they navigate the extremely complex issues the state has forced on them.

But Bill Clarke, Olympia-based attorney for the Ag Water Board of Whatcom County, tells Dillon that various aspects of the funding to support water users and the court processhave been either reduced, cut entirely, or vetoed by Gov. Bob Ferguson.

This, despite the fact that the state continues to fully fund the other side of the lawsuit: its own Washington State Department of Ecology.

State leaders are going back on decades-old agreements with farm foresters with a troubling new plan that would force larger forest buffers on streams without fish.

The proposal has farmers worried they could be targeted with similar stringent rules, forcing massive amounts of farmland out of production statewide.

Tom Westergreen, a small family forest owner in Whatcom County, along with Washington Farm Forestry Association Executive Director Elaine Oneil join Dillon with details on the scientifically-unsupported plan and the devastating blow it would deal to family foresters.

Seattle’s hydroelectric dams on the Skagit River are up for relicensing, and Seattle City Light’s proposal leaves the door open to Seattle using eminent domain authority to condemn and take farmland in the Skagit Valley.

Will Honea, Skagit County Deputy Prosecutor, joins Dillon to answer questions about what Seattle’s plan entails, and what risks lie ahead for Skagit County agriculture.

The Trump Administration’s decision to step back from an agreement designed to speed the march toward breaching the Lower Snake River dams has the Pacific Northwest farming community breathing a sigh of relief.

But John Stuhlmiller, Washington State Water Resources Association Executive Director, tells Dillon that while it’s a move in the right direction to step back from the brink and include more voices in the process, other threats remain for the dams and the farming communities they support.

Social media influencers and reporters from prominent regional and national publications descended on a few local raspberry farms recently, for a tour set up by the Washington Red Raspberry Commission.

Influencer Kaitlyn Thornton, known on Tik Tok and Instagram as the “Apple Girl,” joins Dillon to talk about the tour and what she learned.

Featuring 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, a car show, vendors, displays and of course raspberries & ice cream, the Northwest Raspberry Festival took over downtown Lynden July 18-19.

Gary Vis, Lynden Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, joined Dillon with the details.

A key part of the Whatcom County farming community’s fight for survival in the face of immense water resource pressures is on full display in a brand-new documentary film.

Every Last Drop, Whatcom Family Farmers’ latest film release, captures the struggles of a local potato farm using the latest technology to reach new heights of water efficiency under the looming clouds of a local water crisis and massive court case.

Greg Ebe, a multigenerational farmer and experienced civil engineer, is dead-set on leading his team to create a drip irrigation system that not only saves major quantities of water, but also improves the quality of his renowned specialty seed potato crop

The lion’s share of America’s frozen red raspberries are picked in Whatcom County, and the 2025 harvest of the celebrated red fruit is in full swing.

Mark Van Mersbergen, Lynden-area berry farmer and Washington Red Raspberry Commission President, joins Dillon with a harvest update and a look ahead to the region’s next berry specialty: blueberries.

As farmers across Washington state and all over the nation age, there’s a growing question about who will replace them to continue a farming community.

Judy Feldman, Executive Director of the Whidbey Island-based Organic Farm School, joins Dillon to talk about the impending crisis, and how her organization is trying to help.