A Yakima, WA-based activist group recently published anti-farm videos on its social media feeds that featured the Washington State Department of Health’s official logo, raising troubling questions about possible tax dollars used for political purposes. Save Family Farming has filed an official complaint with the WA Attorney General’s Office calling for an investigation into possible state sponsorship of the nonprofit “We Are ELLA” group’s anti-farm propaganda. Kenton Gartrell, a farmer and ranch...
Aug 25, 2025•24 min
Discredited labor activist Rosalinda Guillén of Community to Community Development recently repeated false and offensive attacks on farms hiring guest workers via the federal H-2A visa program Farms have been turning to the expensive and highly-regulated program as a last resort to help cover labor gaps resulting from the worsening farm labor shortage. Enrique Gastelum, a former farmworker who’s now CEO of the Worker And Farmer Labor Association (WAFLA), joins Dillon to discuss not just how wild...
Aug 25, 2025•23 min
It’s no surprise that during a dry summer, people are talking about water issues, including many that involve the farming community. Ben Tindall, Save Family Farming’s Executive Director, joins Dillon for an update on the advocacy work the organization is focused on currently and into coming weeks and months.
Aug 18, 2025•42 min
State leaders have said they would provide support for the 30,000-plus water users it has sued in its Whatcom water rights adjudication court case as they navigate the extremely complex issues the state has forced on them. But Bill Clarke, Olympia-based attorney for the Ag Water Board of Whatcom County, tells Dillon that various aspects of the funding to support water users and the court processhave been either reduced, cut entirely, or vetoed by Gov. Bob Ferguson. This, despite the fact that th...
Aug 12, 2025•22 min
State leaders are going back on decades-old agreements with farm foresters with a troubling new plan that would force larger forest buffers on streams without fish. The proposal has farmers worried they could be targeted with similar stringent rules, forcing massive amounts of farmland out of production statewide. Tom Westergreen, a small family forest owner in Whatcom County, along with Washington Farm Forestry Association Executive Director Dr. Elaine Oneil join Dillon with details on the scie...
Aug 11, 2025•22 min
Seattle’s hydroelectric dams on the Skagit River are up for relicensing, and Seattle City Light’s proposal leaves the door open to Seattle using eminent domain authority to condemn and take farmland in the Skagit Valley. Will Honea, Skagit County Deputy Prosecutor, joins Dillon to answer questions about what Seattle’s plan entails, and what risks lie ahead for Skagit County agriculture.
Aug 02, 2025•20 min
The Trump Administration’s recent decision to step back from an agreement designed to speed the march toward breaching the Lower Snake River dams has the Pacific Northwest farming community breathing a guarded sigh of relief. But John Stuhlmiller, Washington State Water Resources Association Executive Director, tells Dillon that while it’s a move in the right direction to step back from the brink and include more voices in the process, other threats remain for the dams and the farming communitie...
Jul 28, 2025•21 min
Social media influencers and reporters from prominent regional and national publications descended on a few local raspberry farms recently, for a tour set up by the Washington Red Raspberry Commission. Influencer Kaitlyn Thornton, known on Tik Tok and Instagram as the “Apple Girl,” joins Dillon to talk about the tour and what she learned.
Jul 26, 2025•22 min
Featuring 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, a car show, vendors, displays and of course raspberries & ice cream, the Northwest Raspberry Festival took over downtown Lynden July 18-19. Gary Vis, Lynden Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, joined Dillon with the details.
Jul 22, 2025•20 min
A key part of the Whatcom County farming community’s fight for survival in the face of immense water resource pressures is on full display in a brand-new documentary film. Every Last Drop , Whatcom Family Farmers’ latest film release, captures the struggles of a local potato farm using the latest technology to reach new heights of water efficiency under the looming clouds of a local water crisis and massive court case. Greg Ebe, a multigenerational farmer and experienced civil engineer, is dead-...
Jul 21, 2025•21 min
The lion's share of America's frozen red raspberries are picked in Whatcom County, and the 2025 harvest of the celebrated red fruit is in full swing. Mark Van Mersbergen, Lynden-area berry farmer and Washington Red Raspberry Commission President, joins Dillon with a harvest update and a look ahead to the region's next berry specialty: blueberries.
Jul 14, 2025•20 min
As farmers across Washington state and all over the nation age, there's a growing question about who will replace them to continue a farming community. Judy Feldman, Executive Director of the Whidbey Island-based Organic Farm School, joins Dillon to talk about the impending crisis, and how her organization is trying to help.
Jul 07, 2025•40 min
As predicted, new farm work overtime laws aren't benefitting farmworkers, despite the promises of lawmakers who supported the changes. Tim Delbridge, assistant professor of applied economics at Oregon State University, joined Dillon with details on his research on the impact of the changing laws in Oregon, showing farmworkers actually making less money as a result, in many cases.
Jun 30, 2025•21 min
Farmers Equipment Company is known around Northwest Washington and far beyond for serving the farming community with their wide variety of equipment lines, shop and irrigation services and expansive parts inventory and more. Kevin Pawloski, Farmer's Equipment Company's President and General Manager, joins Dillon with a look back at the company's last 9 decades, as well as details on the June 28th anniversary event at their Lynden location.
Jun 28, 2025•23 min
Whatcom County officials' miscalculation following the recent rollover of a semi load of honey bees near Lynden sent headline writers around the globe into sensationalist overdrive. Local reporter Jeremy Lott joined Dillon to discuss the shock the over-the-top coverage generated, and why at the same time local farmers' response was little more than a yawn.
Jun 25, 2025•20 min
As the farmworker community grapples with the threat of the ongoing immigration crackdown, some Washington farms have been forced to leave fruit to rot, their workforces in some cases down by as much as 80 percent. Erik Zavala, Director of Field Staff at Wenatchee-based Blue Bird, Inc., a grower-owned cooperative of small family farms, tells Dillon that not only are local workers worried about being targeted by federal agents, but many of the migrant workers who usually travel here from other st...
Jun 16, 2025•20 min
For nearly 20 years, dairies in Washington's Lower Yakima Valley have been falsely accused of contaminating the groundwater there. Biased news reports, flawed science, federal and activist lawsuits, government coverups, and even bureaucrats' covert coordination with anti-farm groups have been exposed as part of the ongoing campaign to smear these farms and push them out of business. Now, as Dillon explains, a Congressman is elevating this issue to the new Trump-appointed head of the US Environme...
Jun 09, 2025•20 min
Some water users in Whatcom County, particularly longtime multigenerational family farms, have been using the same water source since before state law began requiring water rights. Now that all water users in the county are being required to defend their water rights in court via the Washington Department of Ecology's new water rights adjudication, those farms wouldn't have been able to participate, putting their entire future in jeopardy through no fault of their own. Bill Clarke, water rights ...
Jun 09, 2025•21 min
With many running events around Whatcom County covering a variety of themes throughout the year, it's fitting that Lynden's signature 5k and 10k run is focused on farming. Julie Kroonje, 'Tractor Trot' Race Director, joins Dillon with details on this year's 4th annual event planned for June 14 that will raise funds for local nonprofit Whatcom Family Farmers Education. To learn more about the Lynden Tractor Trot Run/Walk, go to https://tractortrot.surepost.com/
Jun 05, 2025•19 min
Over 30,000 Whatcom County residents recently received court summonses in the mail for the state's water rights lawsuit in the Nooksack River Basin. Fred Likkel, Executive Director of Whatcom Family Farmers, joins Dillon with the latest details on how the already-fraught court case continues to get more complicated.
May 27, 2025•20 min
Not only is the science of composting fascinating, it continues to provide new opportunities for farming, gardening and even managing waste from cities. Doug Collins, soil scientist with Washington State University's Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources based at WSU's Puyallup Research and Extension center, joins Dillon with details on their new awareness program focused on compost and the research they're doing to use the natural process to increase sustainability.
May 27, 2025•20 min
For generations, Whatcom County residents have flocked to Boxx Berry Farm near Ferndale for fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers. Now, with current farm owner Mike Boxx looking toward retirement, the farm has sold to a new organization formed to transform the multigenerational family farm into an agricultural research station. Blake TeVelde, a local farmer, agronomist and member of the newly-formed Whatcom Food and Farming Station nonprofit that will guide the process, joins Dillon with details ...
May 27, 2025•19 min
Following the Trump administration's move to cut funding for a federal program helping food banks buy food from local farms, the future is uncertain for some small Whatcom County farms that had relied on the program. Stephanie Sisson, outreach and communications coordinator for the Bellingham Food Bank, joins Dillon with a look at the impacts, as well as where they're turning to try to cover the gap.
May 19, 2025•20 min
Recent news coverage of regionally-based dairy cooperative Darigold's current financial challenges has highlighted the struggles that the situation is causing for Washington dairy farms. Jason Vander Kooy, a Skagit County multigenerational dairy farmer and cooperative member joins Dillon with more details on what's happening at Darigold, and how its affecting his farm and many others.
May 12, 2025•20 min
Tide gates protecting hundreds of acres of Skagit Valley farmland continue to teeter on the brink of failure, after a federal Judge in Seattle ruled against allowing routine maintenance on the decades-old infrastructure. Will Honea, attorney for Skagit County, joins Dillon with an update on the continuing saga of local drainage districts fighting to protect farmland, and more on why county government is also worried about the situation.
May 12, 2025•20 min
Activist groups claim a new Washington state measure to bring collective bargaining to the ranks of 'agricultural cannabis workers' claim the bill is limited in scope, but Hispanic state Representative Alex Ybarra from Quincy begs to differ. Ybarra, a former farmworker himself who now represents a region that's home to tens of thousands of farmworkers, joins Dillon to call out the measure, saying state House Bill 1141 is really a 'Trojan horse' to eventually bring collective bargaining to all fa...
May 05, 2025•20 min
Are officials in the Trump EPA colluding with a high-powered lawyer to suffocate family farms here in Washington state? Ben Tindall, Executive Director of Save Family Farming, joins Dillon to discuss the newly-obtained public records leading them to question what's really going on with the EPA's continued lawsuits against dairies in the Lower Yakima Valley.
Apr 28, 2025•40 min
A prominent--and sometimes controversial--local environmentalist is changing his tune on the massive water rights lawsuit the state has launched in Whatcom County. "It is completely unable to deal with the kinds of issues we're talking about," said Eric Hirst, joining with Fred Likkel, Executive Director of Whatcom Family Farmers to talk with Dillon on The Farming Show about the water rights adjudication now underway in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Apr 21, 2025•39 min
"Uncertainty right now is the name of the game," says Jason Hoekstra, CEO of Sumas-based EPL Feed. The company provides feed for dairies and other farms all over Washington state. Hoekstra joined Dillon to talk about many of the challenges facing the local farming community, including the unknowns that the Trump administration's new tariffs present--impacts that could potentially either harm or help farms.
Apr 21, 2025•20 min
