The Ag economist for the Washington State Department of Agriculture says 2023 is shaping up to be a good year for the farm economy across the Evergreen state.  Madi Roy says the Washington farm economy is fairly stable right now, but many are proceeding with caution.  One of the biggest question marks for Roy right now, is the dairy industry.

 

“Last year we saw that dairy, dairy products, were about 15.5% higher in price on the shelf and so of course there's going to be a little pullback in terms of what consumers are actually eating in terms of dairy products.  But that being said, dairy actually had one of its highest years in terms of export value in the U.S. and we don't know what that will look like moving forward.”

 

And with so many commodities across Washington reliant on trade, Roy said some of the biggest impacts on the state’s farm economy will come from outside the borders.

 

“We're going to be looking at what's happening in Ukraine, what's happening in China, what's happening in Europe, and then we'll be looking at the weather of course.   We’re in a La Niña right now, there's some predictions that we may flip over in the fall to an El Niño, but really we're optimistic in terms of the longer run climate forecast that snowpack will remain good we'll have good precipitation.”

 

Roy said input costs are another large question that needs to be addressed.  She said will also watch the Fed to see if they raise interest rates again at their upcoming meeting.

 

 

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-9791, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com 

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