“The availability of water is vital to the future of agriculture in Whatcom County,” Lynne Rainey Wheeler said. She is a dairy farmer in Whatcom County. Her family’s farm, Coldstream Farms, is in the South Fork Valley. They have been farming there since 1978. In that time they ...
Farmers have been accused of not doing their part when it comes to preserving the environment on and around their farm. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Farmers in Whatcom County have taken many measures in recent years to not only improve their sustainability but also work toward the ...
Just a few months into Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood’s tenure as mayor, he was notified the Nooksack River basin was being considered for adjudication by the Washington State Department of Ecology. The adjudication process takes years -- sometimes decades, not to mention the financial burden it causes, Fleetwood mentioned. ...
Recently the Department of Ecology made a quiet but very momentous decision. It is requesting funds from the legislature to begin the process of adjudication in the Nooksack Basin. This action has caused huge concerns in the farming community and many other water users, while other groups welcome the process. ...
Whatcom Family Farmers does not endorse candidates, but believes voters should be informed. The Washington State Dairy Federation collected responses from candidates for the 42nd District. Here are the unedited responses: Water Rights, Adjudication, & Supply Background: Whatcom County has a diverse and very productive agricultural segment that feeds into ...
The American Blueberry Growers Alliance is in support of the U.S. Trade Representatives request for a safeguard investigation regarding blueberry imports. According to a press release from the alliance, the organization "expects that the investigation will result in a remedy that allows the domestic industry to recover from the harmful ...
A recent letter to the editor in the Lynden Tribune has sparked a response from an expert. Dillon Honcoop spoke with Washington State University scientist Chris Benedict after a letter to the editor raised fears that a specific pesticide was being used in local potato farming. The letter claimed local ...
Imported fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico and other nations have increased greatly. Now, well over 50% of fresh fruit and nearly 50% of fresh vegetables American consumers eat come from foreign farms. They pay a fraction of the labor costs and, for the most part, don't have the same ...
