Wash. governor touts state agriculture in DC

For about 17 days each spring, Steve Sakuma harvests strawberries west of Washington's Cascades in the Skagit Valley. To do so, he brings in 1,700 seasonal workers, many of whom return each year and have grown to be thought of as family.

Sakuma has worried his workers often are forgotten in the debate over immigration reform. But he says he was pleased to learn during an agricultural trade mission to Washington, D.C., this week that people are all too aware of the debate's human side.

"I think they do understand," Sakuma said. "The challenge is that the solution is somewhere meandering between the human side, the political side and the regulatory side."

The problem is that the issues of immigration reform and a lingering trade dispute with Mexico are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Friday.

Gregoire, state Agriculture Director Dan Newhouse and several other agriculture industry representatives, including Sakuma, met with about a dozen federal officials to impress upon them the important role agriculture plays in Washington state.

The federal officials included the heads of the agriculture, homeland security, interior, transportation, labor and commerce departments, as well as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The trip comes at an important time for Washington farmers, who enter harvest season facing stricter screening regulations for air freight and concerns about water and the global economic meltdown.

Nearly 300 crops are grown in Washington state, and agriculture represents 13 percent of the state's economy. In 2007, the overall value of agricultural production was a record $8.51 billion.

"Oftentimes, we're not thought of as an agriculture-based economy, and so we wanted to bring that message," Gregoire said in a telephone call with reporters Friday. "We've laid the groundwork for a true partnership and we've clearly brought a new understanding about Washington and agriculture."

Of immediate concern are 20 percent tariffs imposed by Mexico on nearly 90 American products in retaliation for a U.S. decision to not allow Mexican truckers on U.S. highways despite the terms of a free trade agreement.

Washington farmers exported $87 million in goods to Mexico last year, including frozen potatoes, pears and cherries.

Unfortunately, no one in the federal government can say when the dispute might get resolved, Gregoire said. But she said she and others stressed that time is money.

"Not just money for the here and now, but there's the potential that we will lose our importers, our processors will turn to other countries and stay with other countries once the problems have been resolved," she said. "This is an issue that needs immediate attention."

Already, Northwest pear growers have lost 25 percent of their normal exports at this time of year because of the tariff. Mexico is the region's largest market for pears, taking as much as 13 percent of the crop.

Gregoire said she stressed to federal officials that agriculture should be viewed as an asset in any climate change legislation. She also impressed upon Homeland Security officials the importance of timely delivery of Washington crops that are highly perishable, such as cherries.

New security regulations that require cargo screening on passenger airplanes already have slowed or hampered some exports in California.

Agriculture also is Washington's top employer. In recent years, farmers have complained about a labor shortage amid crackdowns at the U.S-Mexico border, while labor groups counter that higher wages would secure workers.

A bill has been introduced in Congress to ensure a legal labor force for agriculture, but because it's only going to be part of a larger immigration reform plan, it likely won't go anywhere this year, Newhouse said.

"It's still got a lot of moving pieces," he said.

Sakuma agreed, but said he found the conversations about immigration reform encouraging.

His company, Sakuma Brothers Farms Inc., grows strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples near Burlington, about 60 miles north of Seattle. Sakuma said he believes his workers are legally documented to work in the United States.

"But the reality is there may be some that aren't," he said. "That doesn't mean they don't do a good job for us, and that doesn't mean we don't care about them."