Future of Washington family farms like mine put in jeopardy by Legislature
Washington state lawmakers are currently considering a bill that attempts to reconcile a recent Supreme Court ruling repealing a 60-year-old agriculture overtime exemption as it applied to dairy farms.
Senate Bill 5172 would go further than the court did by eliminating the overtime exemption for all of agriculture – without protection from retroactive backpay claims, and without seasonal flexibility.
The impact of this bill in its current form has us at Mosby Farms questioning the viability of our farm’s future. Our farm is in Auburn where we grow hand-weeded and hand-harvested vegetables.
We can tell you one thing for sure: Our seasonal crews, who travel from as far as Aberdeen and Bremerton, will not come to the farm to work less than 60 hours per week.
We know this first-hand after seeing their disappointment at the beginning and end of harvest season, when work weeks are closer to 40 hours. Knowing they will have more hours during peak season keeps them coming back.
We hear words like “exploiting farmworkers” and disagree. We depend on our employees. We supply fuel for their carpool vans and provide some meals. They take home available produce.
We value their work and believe they feel valued, or they would not come back year after year.
Washington farmers already pay the highest agriculture wages in the nation at an average of $17 per hour. We also operate at an inherent disadvantage compared to other states and countries, which pay significantly less and have longer growing seasons.
Beyond impacts on our workers, the implications of this bill are farther reaching than most consumers realize.
Part of the important work we do at Mosby Farms is helping support local foodbanks. Every year, we donate and facilitate hundreds of thousands of pounds of food to organizations. These donations have taken on increased importance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sad reality is without flexibility for seasonal workers and harvest hours, we will be forced to reduce the size of our harvest and bring these donations to an abrupt end, hurting the most vulnerable members of our community.
We know Washington-grown produce is important to Washington consumers. Local farms provide healthy food and farmers are stewards of our valuable land and habitat, contributing to local food systems and providing incomes for multiple generations of families.
People here talk about aerospace and technology, but we do not talk enough about agriculture’s importance to the state’s economy. Over 300 unique commodities are produced in Washington. When fall arrives, we are one frost away from the end of zucchini and cucumber season.
This year our worry is a bill in Olympia that could end our seasons forever, as well as jobs for farmworkers.
Without full protections from retroactive backpay and a flexible seasonality provision, SB 5172 will jeopardize all our work, the jobs we provide and the many contributions we provide to our employees and communities.
Rosella and Burr Mosby operate Mosby Farms of Auburn, a first-generation family farm in the heart of the upper Green River Valley. Farming in North Pierce and South King counties, they focus on growing produce for the Puget Sound region through groceries, restaurants and food banks. The farm started in Sumner in 1977.