Whatcom Farm Facts
Whatcom County has 115,831 acres of land in farms
Nearly a $357,312,000 market value of Agricultural production
Whatcom County is 1st out of 17 counties in Western Washington
6th out of 39 counties in the state
78th out of 3,075 farm counties in the U.S. (top 3%)
- Whatcom County dairy has a farm gate, or market value, greater than $193 million.
- There are approximately 70 farms with an average of 550 cows.
- With a milk production of 22,780 lbs/cow, that comes to 14 million gallons of milk each month!
- More than 85 % of Washington’s Red Raspberries for the frozen market are produced in Whatcom County.
- More than 65% of the U.S. Red Raspberries for the frozen market are produced in Whatcom County.
- Whatcom County raises the largest per capita crop of red raspberries in the world,with approximately 100 grower harvesting over 8,500 acres.
- The raspberry industry provides 6,000 seasonal jobs for the 6 week harvest period
- Some are grown for the local retail and U-Pick markets. The majority are sold for premium products, i.e. gourmet ice cream, jams, etc.
- There are approximately 7,000 acres in blueberry production
- Whatcom County is a certified seed potato area with between 1,800 and 1,900 acres harvested and an annual yield of nearly 38,000 tons of seed
- Whatcom County ranks 6th in the state in Greenhouse/Nursery industry with a nearly $25 million market value
- About 6,000 head of beef graze on Whatcom County’s pasture lands which ranks us 4th in the state for beef production
