The Agricultural Economy
Clark County’s Community Planning recently submitted to the public for review a draft of an Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which considers the impact on various elements of our environment of the three alternatives under consideration in the Comprehensive Plan Update. Found in a small section of the DEIS (in the sections on Land Use and Shoreline) is the discussion on Economy. It provides a current description of the economy, (ie., jobs) and the environmental impacts of the alternatives (1, 2, and 3) currently under consideration.
FOCC finds it unacceptable that none of this discussion mentions the potential for economic growth in the agricultural sector, especially in light of the recent Clark County Agricultural Lands Study findings, which confidently confirms the fact that Clark County’s “asset” is its many acres of prime soils for growing a variety of specialty and profitable crops.
No change to the current Comprehensive Plan (Alternative 1) would preserve the most number of acres available for highly productive farming, given the quality of the soil. If provided support from the county and private sector, agriculture could be the foundation for a successful economic sector that would not only grow food for a growing population amid a changing climate in which imported food becomes less reliable, but would also support a myriad of sub-industries. A vibrant agricultural industry brings business opportunities such as farm equipment repair, cold storage, farm-to-table culinary start-ups, tourism, and engineering as well as supply chain expertise devoted to transportation and food processing.
Jude Wait, PhD., of Wellsave LLC, in her comments submitted to the public record in response to the SEPA Draft Environmental Impact Statement, points to the recent Ag Census (2022) that provides this Clark County data in its Labor Highlights:
-
Total number of Producers: 3,560 (counts from 1 to 5 producers on a farm)
-
Market Value of Products sold $58,969,000
-
-
Farm Workers: Hired Farm Labor total 2,356 on 370 farms for a total of $20,263,000 payroll,
-
Plus 2,111 unpaid workers on 810 farms
Farm Jobs: 3,560 + 2,356 = 5,916 + 2,111 unpaid = 8,027
Dr. Wait continues with:
“Notably, the Economy sections of the DEIS fail to include this crucial data. The DEIS only reports nonfarm employment. The Ag Land study is also deficient in considering this indicator of the significance of the Ag sector’s economic contribution to the County. Context matters.
See the whole Ag Census for more very interesting data on producers, crops, trends, demographics. While not a single employer, and jobs are dispersed across hundreds of farms, the total job count is more than any single employer in Clark County, including Peacehealth. Consider the “Food is medicine” movement and VeggieRX, and the fact that farmers feed many thousands of pounds of food to many thousands of people in this County and beyond. We are significant!”
Adding to the above data, even the USDA recognizes that agriculture in America brings in over 350 billion to the annual US economy just in exports (https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/chart-detail?chartId=112949
Clark County’s Comp Plan Update Alternative 1, by maintaining existing agricultural land, and designating additional lands as laid out in the Agricultural Resource Lands Study and, in turn, making it available to farmers and food producers, would ensure communities can lead the way in climate change mitigation and resilience, with the implementation of policies such as “encouraging resource-based industries…..which are consistent with rural lands’ goals and policies” (Comp Plan Goal: Maintain and enhance opportunities for resource-based industries located on rural lands in Clark County, Policies 9.8).
An existing Goal within the current Comp Plan. 9.2, reads; “ Provide commercial and industrial employment opportunities to meet the needs of Clark County citizens.” Policy 9.2.1 states “Encourage long-term business investments that generate net fiscal benefits to the region, protect environmental quality and are consistent with the objective of higher wage jobs for Clark County residents”; and 9.2.5 reads “Promote workforce development through collaboration with WSU-Vancouver, Clark College…..to facilitate infrastructure development and other economic development initiatives”. Hopefully, with the assistance of an active Agricultural Advisory Commission, partnerships can exist with economic development agencies, such as the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC) and Identity Clark County, to include Agriculture as an economic engine and collaboratively craft programs to incentivize resource-based industries to feed into qualifying farms. Likewise, partnerships with Clark College at Boschma Farms in Ridgefield will build skills and the technological expertise that will help sustain the future of farming in Clark County.
Possible programs that favor the building of agriculture in Clark County are those that put available ag land in the hands of farmers who want and can farm to grow food, and meat processing facilities within the County (currently they are available only in Oregon and Cowlitz County, which is a disadvantage for those raising livestock), and requiring that all warehouses over a certain square-footage must have 10% of its space leased or purchased by a business that serves agricultural businesses (ie., cold storage, dry storage, farm equipment rental and repair, commercial kitchen space, food processing facilities); or let’s consider the requirement that warehouses, RV parks, storage facilities, manufacturing facilities must devote an acre or two to an incubator farm on its real estate.
We cannot dismiss the importance of farming, growing food, managing livestock, growing hay to feed that livestock, and growing flowers that protect our pollinators. Friends of Clark County maintains that goals, policies and programs should be implemented that are specifically designed to promote the agricultural economy. This does not mean farm work only, it means a fully functional localized food system. The infrastructure necessary to build and sustain a healthy, thriving ag sector combines a variety of skills, expertise, and, when successful, these jobs can be more sustainable over the years than construction. Just as housing is essential to our economy by providing jobs and building future shelters for our communities, so is agriculture. Agriculture not only provides an infrastructure filled with small business opportunities, but it also strengthens our ability to feed our future.