Legislators hear ag concerns at Farm Bureau forum

Representative Joe Schmick, Senator Mark Schoesler and newly sworn in Representative Susan Fagan field questions at the Farm Bureau Forum Friday night in Colfax.

Ninth District legislators told a dozen or so leaders in Whitman County’s Farm Bureau Forum Friday night they will try to use a multi-billion dollar state deficit to slash state bureaucracies, though they admitted their status in the minority party puts them at a disadvantage.

Most troubling to the ag leaders was the potential that budget cuts could hit state employees who benefit agriculture the most.

“The thing that’s kept me in business is being able to call WSU or call the extension and ask what’s the latest and greatest thing,” said Jim White, a Colfax-area farmer and past president of the Washington State Association of wheat growers.

Sen. Mark Schoesler said too often cuts lead to reductions in the number of extension agents who work directly with farmers.

Rep. Joe Schmick of Colfax said provisos can be attached to spending bills that direct agencies to cut “higher-ups.”

Rep. Susan Fagan of Pullman, who will start a one-year special term in Olympia, reported she had already met with a state agency head who had cut 22 of his 51 employees.

But White asked how the three Republican representatives could accomplish their targeted cuts against the Democratic majority.

Schoesler said concessions can often be received through negotiations with the opposition party.

“They’re going to need someone to help with their stinky jobs,” he said.

Tom Kammerzell of Colfax asked if the legislators could advocate the Department of Ecology to work better with cattle producers. Too often, he said, ecology officials see ranchers as violators and do not base citations on the best available science.

“A cop can’t write you a ticket without citing a violation, but the DOE can?” he asked.

Both Schoesler and Schmick criticized the agency for reading statutes like the Clean Water Act too rigidly, often treating seasonal drainage ditches in the same class as major rivers.

Schoesler suggested cattlemen open their farms to ecology officials and legislators to show them the stewardship that comes along with ranching.

John Pearson of Colfax, president of the county Farm Bureau, asked legislators if there were any concerns the ag industry should watch out for from the upcoming session.

Schmick said the Democrats may try to institute a business and operating tax on gross farm receipts, take away sales tax exemptions on diesel and farm machinery parts and seek to raise fees regularly paid by farmers such as burn permits.

He also said legislature could institute a professional services sales tax. That would mean accountants, lawyers and veterinarians could face added expenses which would have to be covered in fees they charge to farmers.

“They can be pretty creative,” Schmick said.