SNOHOMISH — Mother Nature has been harsh on farmers this winter.
Heavy snowfalls destroyed barns and greenhouses during the holidays. And the new year started with a flood that spread over numerous acres of farmland in Snohomish County. Local farmers are trying to figure out what the flood will cost.
Keith Stocker drove around the Snohomish River Valley to check his crops during the middle of last week. Some strawberries remained underwater. His Christmas tree farm was strewn with debris. Nearby, swans gathered on instant lakes that emerged during the flood.
“Our biggest fear is that slow receding water could cause damage for those crops,” said Stocker, who farms about 200 acres in the valley.
Stocker is a fourth-generation farmer and is used to floods.
“It’s certainly been more challenging winter than normal,” he said. “But is it the worst winter? No. We’ve seen worse winters.”
Stocker said he moved up equipment including tractors and pumps before the Snohomish River topped levees and started spilling into the valley. The levees functioned well, slowing floodwaters.
“Farmers are better prepared for floods than they were 30 years ago. Levees perform better than they did,” Stocker said, adding that he hasn’t heard about any livestock loss.
Meanwhile, people evacuated their animals to the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe during the flood. Horses, chickens, mules, goats and zebras took refuge at the county’s fairgrounds. At its peak, the fairgrounds had 196 horses, a record high, fair manager Mark Campbell said.
“We were able to handle everything OK,” Campbell said.
Floods are a part of life for farmers in Snohomish County.
About 63,000 acres are designated as farmland in the county. Only about half of the designated farmland is being used for agricultural purposes such as raising cattle and crops, according to a county’s study released in 2007.
The rest isn’t being farmed for several reasons. For instance, much of the farmland is in floodplains and too wet to farm.
The recent flooding is affecting numerous farmers in Western Washington.
“The damage has been so widespread,” said Jason Kelly, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture. “The state is trying to get a sense on the damage that farmers have sustained. Some of our food safety officers are visiting with dairies.”
The state doesn’t have a disaster program for farmers, Kelly said. Farmers need to report damage to their local farm service agency to receive help from the federal government.
In Snohomish County, officials are encouraging farmers to report damage as soon as possible.
“We are still looking into that,” said Ed Husmann, president of Snohomish County Farm Bureau. “Nobody finished assessing anything yet.”
On Wednesday morning, two workers kept busy pruning blueberry bushes at the Stocker farm in Snohomish. Blueberries are expected to be harvested in summer, Stocker said. That’s when he expects to find out the total damage of the flood.
For now, Stocker isn’t complaining. Things could’ve been worse, he said.
“Even though we lost some crops, we haven’t lost as much as others did.”
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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