As fuel prices soar, thanks to the war in Iran, and add to the exorbitant costs farmers are already paying for labor, inputs, and equipment, who is to blame for the mess?
Save Family Farming’s Dillon Honcoop says the rising fuel costs caused by the war could be the final straw for many.
“Ultimately, all of these prices can be, for a farmer, the straw that breaks the camel’s back because of all the straws that have already been dumped on that camel’s back, if that makes sense.”
And Honcoop says a lot of those straws have come from Olympia and the state legislature.
“They’re the ones that have brought the farmer in Washington state right to the edge of the cliff. If it’s fuel prices from a war in Iran that pushes them off the cliff, over the edge, and we hope not, but we know that will happen with some farms, who is really to blame there?”
Honcoop says there will be plenty of finger-pointing.
“Is it the federal administration, is it a decision about what’s happening on the other side of the globe, or is it really the majority of costs that have piled up in recent years at the behest of Olympia and its decisions much closer to home?”
So, do they not understand?
“I think it’s been easy for a lot in leadership in Olympia to dismiss it and say, ‘Oh, farmers always complain about costs being high. They’re always going to push back. They always say the sky is falling.’ Well, the sky is falling for a lot of farms in Washington state. We’re losing two a day on average, based on the numbers over the last five to seven years.”