Haugen harvests new crop of farm bills in Ag committee

OLYMPIA — Between commercial development and environmental mitigation, many local farmers are facing increasing pressures that are chipping away at the economically viability of agriculture along the I-5 corridor.

That’s why Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, today introduced bills before the Senate Agriculture & Rural Economic Development Committee to give farmers some innovative ways to obtain multiple financial benefits from the same land.

Senate Bill 6805 would direct the State Conservation Commission to establish an agricultural conservation market in Washington State. The proposal has drawn favorable comments form diverse groups, including representatives of the Washington Farmland Trust, the Nature Conservancy, and the Washington Farm Bureau.

“I’m glad that such a wide variety of people can come together to recognize that development pressures are squeezing local farmers,” said Haugen. “It’s time we started looking at new ways for farmers to retain the critical mass of farmland that’s needed to keep agriculture economically viable.”

The idea behind SB 6805 is to create a system of credits, so that market forces could provide incentives for farmers to provide environmental benefits. For example, when a construction project has to comply with environmental mitigation requirements, the contractor could ask for bids from local farmers who have land they are willing to set aside for a designated amount of time.

Such a system would takes advantage of environmental enhancement opportunities that exist on farms, without taking whole farms or significant amounts of farmland out of production. It would also improve the viability of farming operations, by giving farmers an additional way for their land to generate revenue.

“Right now, some of the best quality farmland is being sold for mitigation,” said Don Stewart of the Farmland Trust. “This bill can help us find a mechanism to help pay our farmers for the environmental services they provide.”

Another bill introduced by Haugen, Senate Bill 6806, will provide a six year property and leasehold excise tax exemption for farmers who invest in anaerobic digesters, also known as biodigesters. The tax incentives were established in 2003 to encourage the production of biodiesel and alcohol fuels, but did not include anaerobic digesters.

Anaerobic digesters compost — or “digest” — organic waste in a machine that limits access to oxygen, which is what makes them “anaerobic.” Farms and ranches can use anaerobic digesters to recover methane from animal manure for producing electricity, heat, and hot water. The process destroys methane — a potent greenhouse gas — and can greatly reduce manure odor.

“These things are amazing,” said Haugen. “The methane from one digester can generate enough renewable electricity for a small town the size of La Conner. Unfortunately, their high up-front costs prevent most farmers from investing in the technology — but this bill can change that.”

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