| 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 102,584 acres of land in farms
4) Agricultural production has an over $326 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%) (2002 Us Census) 6) 2007 ag census shows 1,483 farms with the average farm being 69 acres in size and average age of the operator at 55.5 |
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7) Whatcom County's Dairy Industry is 2nd out of 34 counties in the state and 29th out of 2,493 dairy counties in the U.S. (top 6%). The Farm Gate or market value is about $190 million. Darigold's Lynden plant produces over 1.2 billion pounds of powdered milk annually. There were 151 farms and 48,964 cows in 2007. The number of farms in 2009 has dropped to 128. The average herd size is 651 cows. Washington is the #10 dairy state producing 5.7 Billion lbs. annually. Whatcom County's average production is 23,344 lbs. per cow per year which equates to 2,714.4 gallons per cow or 133 million gallons!!! |
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| 8) More than 79% of the state's red Raspberries are produced in Whatcom County. Nearly 50 million pounds of red raspberries were harvested in 2007. There are 129 growers and more than 8,200 acres in production. The average yield per acre in 2007 was 5,800 lbs. with a value of nearly $48 million. |
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9) Strawberry production comes from about 307 Whatcom County acres. Some are grown for the local retail & U-Pick markets. The majority are sold for premium products, ie: gourmet ice cream, jams, etc. |
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| 10) Blueberries is a rapidly increasing crop with more than 2,600 acres presently in production. Whatcom County grows 48% of the state's crop. |
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11) Cattle & Calves - there are 402 farms in Whatcom County that raise some 5,680 beef animals.
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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 7th in the state with a nearly $17 million Market Value.
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| 13) Whatcom County grows and cultivates over 50 varieties of Potatoes. Most are grown for seed potatoes for many growers throughout the Western U.S.on about 2,000 acres. |  |
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14) Organic Acres - The Value of sales from organically produced commodities on 67 farms is just over $4 million. this relfects a little over 1% of the total value of Whatcom County Agriculture.
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15) According to the 2007 US Census data, the 1,483 farms are reported as follows: 13 are grain |
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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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