| Whatcom County OVERVIEW | ~ Farm Facts |
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1) Agriculture is an industry basic to the requirements of all civilizations. Without farmers to provide us food and fiber, we would have a difficult time making it through each day. | |
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2) Whatcom County's primary agriculture products are:
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| 3) Whatcom County has 148,027 acres of land in farms
4) Agricultural production has an over $300 million market value 5) Agriculture Industry ranks 1st out of 17 counties in Western Washington, 6th out of 39 counties statewide and 78th out of 3,075 farm counties in the U.S. (top 3%) 6) 2002 ag census shows 1,485 farms with the average farm being 99.7 acres in size and average age of the operator at 53 |  |
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7) Whatcom County's Dairy Industry is 2nd out of 34 counties in the state and 15th out of 2,493 dairy counties in the U.S. (top 5%). The Farm Gate or market value is greater than $190 million. Darigold's Lynden plant produces over 1.2 billion pounds of powdered milk annually. |  |
| 8) More than 65% of the nation's red Raspberries are produced in Whatcom County. More than 54 million pounds of red raspberries were harvested in 2003. There are nearly 100 growers and more than 7,200 acres in production. |  |
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9) Most Strawberry acreage serves the community through local retail and U-Pick markets. There are about 280 acres in Whatcom County production |  |
| 10) Blueberries is a rapidly increasing crop with more than 2000 acres presently in production. |  |
| 11) Whatcom County grows and cultivates many varieties of Potatoes which are mostly grown as seed potatoes for many growers throughout the Western U.S. Between 1,800 and 1900 acres of seed potatoes are grown with an annual yield of nearly 38,000 tons of seed. |  |
| 12) Whatcom County Greenhouse and Nursery growers provide bedding plants, beautiful hanging baskets, poinsettias, easter lilies and more to the local markets. This industry ranks 6th in the state with a nearly $25 million Market Value.
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Cheryl DeHaan
Community Education Program Manager
voice: (360) 354-1337
fax: (360) 354-0948
1796 Front Street
Lynden, WA 98264
cdehaan@wcfarmfriends.com
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