Trump Beef Processing Announcement Won’t Solve Problem For WA Farmers

Markus Rollinger, Yakima-area dairy farmer and Save Family Farming President, issued the following statement reacting to President Donald Trump’s social media pledge to roll back beef processing regulations

“Farmers here in Washington state are skeptical about President Trump’s announcement about allowing them to process their own food, not just because of the lack of details, but because they know some of the biggest restrictions limiting local food come from Olympia, not Washington, D.C.

“The real solution to affordable local food is to reduce the cost for Washington farmers and ranchers to produce that food. But thanks to decisions by Olympia bureaucrats and lawmakers, our state is going the other direction. The costs Washington state has placed on the farming community is causing more and more of our food to come from other states and foreign countries.

“Although we will never condone compromising on food safety, Washington farmers do need immediate relief from state rules driving skyrocketing labor costs, expensive environmental regulations with little environmental benefit, and the constant threat of arbitrary agency crackdowns and litigation. These problems are the real threat to affordable food for Washingtonians and the security of our region’s food supply.

“Washington’s farmers appreciate the focus on removing unnecessary federal barriers to bringing beef–or any of the food they grow–to market. But the reality is that no federal change will rescue family farming here if Olympia refuses to get real about the costs it’s added, pushing farms and the processing infrastructure they rely on out of business or out of state.

“Olympia needs to act now to save family farming in Washington by tackling inequitable farm wage rules, ineffective and costly regulations, and unaccountable bureaucrats and activists who leverage rigid policy interpretations not to benefit the public but for their own ideological and financial gain.

“Even if the federal government makes it easier for farmers to process the food they grow here in Washington, why would those farmers make that investment if Olympia’s rules, regulations and costs make it impossible?”