Ag Journal: Skagit County Extension director talks agriculture

The coming years could be good for the vegetable seed industry in Skagit County.

Washington State University Skagit County Extension Director Don McMoran said growth in the vegetable seed industry will likely be a trend in 2026.

"Another exciting area is the vegetable seed industry. In Europe they've had several devastating years in a row and so were seeing some of those crops that left Skagit County coming back in a major way," McMoran said. "Spinach is the driver, followed by beets and cabbage seed. We're going to be seeing more of that in the next few years."

He also highlighted grass seed and cattle as being two industries experiencing success in the county.

Early on in his career people would ask McMoran what crops they should grow, and his answer was blueberries.

"You can get 10,000 pounds of fruit off an acre, and it's a plant that can grow on the same land for up to 90 years," he said. "Then we got a new insect called spotted wing drosophila. That made it much more difficult to grow blueberries."

In part because of this McMoran is hesitant to make predictions as to what crops will be most profitable.

"I don't have a crystal ball," he said. "I don't make those predictions anymore."

Another trend McMoran mentioned is fewer mid-sized fams in the county.

"I'm very concerned for the middle-sized farmers in Skagit County," McMoran said. "What we've seen is large farms have bought out small and medium-sized growers, so those medium-sized growers are leaving the landscape and that's going to change our culture in the future.

"We have larger farms and we also have a lot more small, organic, sustainable farms, and there's an emptying out of the middle. I think that continues as we go forward," he said.

McMoran emphasized the importance of voting for pro-agriculture legislation in the county and state.

"Farmers are only 1% of the population. We really need good voters to make sure we're enacting good laws that keep our producers on the landscape."

McMoran also highlighted the strain high costs are putting on farmers, and emphasized that the industry is increasingly difficult and stressful.

"The future of agriculture is hanging in the balance right now and I encourage your readers to make sure they're supporting local farms, that they know who their local farmer is," he said.

The Skagit County Extension runs a farm stress and suicide prevention program that McMoran recommends for those in the agriculture industry dealing with crisis.

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