Sell Your Soil
by Marianne Warren
A blanket of gray clouds hangs over Skagit Valley. As winter approaches, the farmers are harvesting the fall crops. Boxes of sweet smelling raspberries, enormous blackberries, blueberries, red, gold and yellow tomatoes, and other vegetables line the Sakuma Brothers market stand. This weekend farmers invite customers to tour their farms and taste local specialty products during the two-day Festival of Family Farms.
While Interstate 5 brings customers to the stand, it also threatens the farms’ future. With easy access to I-5, the valley’s population has grown rapidly, forcing policy makers to determine where and how Mount Vernon and Burlington will grow and at what cost to farmland.
"For farming to survive in the valley with the land use issues, we need to educate the public," said Richard Sakuma, manager of farm operations for Sakuma Brothers Farms. "The times now are different for farming, people are interested to know what we’re doing and that’s why we think we need to help educate everyone on what we do."
Farms line I-5 in Skagit County, along with large bright signs with recognizable names such as Wal-Mart, Auto World and Costco. Just as familiar are signs on the adjacent farmland announcing the sale of land for development.
"If farmers are making money they’ll continue to farm," said Ken Dahlstedt, a farmer and county commissioner for Skagit County. "If they’re not making money then they’ll try to do anything they can to get their land converted to some other higher value use."
Many farmers in Skagit Valley have spent their entire lives working the land for the reward of gnarled and toughened hands and a lifestyle they enjoy. Some farmers are ready to retire and hope to live from the investment they’ve made in their land.
"The only thing you have is what you’ve saved through the years and your land," said Skagit Valley farmer Bill White.
"The reason we purchased the land in the first place was that it would be a nice place to live and because we thought in time it was going to be a valuable piece of commercial property."
Ever since a stroke forced Bill into retirement nine years ago, Lois and Bill White have been renting out their 80 acres to other farmers to pay property taxes.
"I farmed that land three years myself," Dahlstedt said. "I barely could pay him enough money to pay for the taxes. I’m hoping someone else will rent it because I won’t rent it again."
The Whites believe their property is ideal for development and have applied to have the land annexed into the city of Burlington. Several developers have already made offers to buy the Whites’ land if it is rezoned.
Unfortunately for the Whites, the city of Burlington will not consider the annexation until a recently appointed task force makes plans for the city’s future. While the wait for a decision angers the Whites, Bob Rose, executive director of Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, sees the delay as a positive move.
"Once you jump to the west side of Burlington there’s no logical stopping point for development," Rose said. "Certainly if you’re adjacent to the freeway you’re going to get freeway type development, but after that, who knows where it unravels to."
Margaret Fleek, Burlington’s planning director, said planners should have routed I-5 through the hills to the east of the cities. That route would have put the road out of the floodplain and away from farmland, but the city of Mount Vernon pushed to have I-5 directed through the city to help promote downtown commerce.
"It was a political decision to run I-5 through agriculture lands," Fleek said. "That’s what caused the tension in the first place."
Commercial development did take place but not just in downtown Mount Vernon. Shopping centers like the Cascade Mall and Prime Outlets have stretched development up the I-5 corridor. Now, Mount Vernon and Burlington no longer have a clear separation.
"We had cucumbers growing right where the malls are," said
Jean Youngquist, a Skagit Valley farmer.
Sakuma remembers when the construction of I-5 divided their farmland.
His family used to farm the land that now lies under the Auto World.
To curb sprawl, the state instituted the Growth Management Act in 1990. The GMA requires counties and cities to develop and follow a comprehensive development plan. It must include urban growth areas, land pre-designated for city expansion.
In accordance with the GMA, Skagit County set the urban growth boundaries for Burlington in 1994. Since then, rapid growth in the city has raised questions about whether the current UGAs are large enough.
The Whites argue that annexing their property is the next logical move. From their living room window they can see the lights of a business park 900 yards away on the other side of I-5. With an already existing off-ramp and overpass, their property has convenient access to I-5 and Burlington.
"Legislatures say it would be so nice if everyone would locate in this nice little box," Dahlstedt said. "Unless you have financial incentives or credits to make that happen, people will still be driven by the economics of their decisions."
A New York-based development firm devised the Sakuma Market Center, which will be built on farmland previously owned by farmers Steve Sakuma and John Bouslog. The land is designated commercial and is within Burlington’s city limits. Pumpkins currently grow on the land.
Richard Sakuma said after the land was annexed, developers approached Sakuma Brothers with an interest in buying it. They used the money from the sale to pay off debt.
The Market Center is not the only project approved by the city. A new Bob’s Burgers and Brew is set to open by spring 2004 along I-5. Developers JJMD Inc. received zoning approval for a hotel on land adjacent to the restaurant, just off I-5 near the Cook Road exit. Dahlstedt said the Burlington-Edison School District is looking to acquire agricultural land to build a school.
He said the city is in a kind of Catch-22. Taxpayers don’t want to pay for higher priced land within the city and the city doesn’t want to annex additional agriculture land. Agricultural land is less expensive, but some people don’t want to see the conversion of farmland.
For cities to annex agricultural land, they must prove they have a need for the land because of growth or economic needs. Fleek said Burlington could never justify annexing the Whites’ land.
Instead, the city is now focusing on planning the future of Burlington.
Graduate students in the landscape and architecture
program at University of Washington are working with the Burlington task
force to develop a city plan.
"Burlington is really looking forward in a progressive way in how to become a more livable city," Rose said. Few valleys along I-5 offer extensive open spaces for wildlife and farming. The Puyallup, Duwamish, and Kent valleys lost much of their farmland during growth before the GMA.
"The I-5 corridor from Vancouver to Olympia is basically urbanized," Rose said. "Except for this section in the Nisqually Delta."
Skagit Valley established a strong farming community after its first successful barley crop in 1863. Even today, the fertile soil, coupled with the knowledge and skill of Skagit farmers, still produces large quantities of quality crops.
"When you eat Häagen Dazs ice cream you’re eating Skagit Valley strawberries because of the color, texture, consistency and the flavor," Rose said.
He said Skagit Valley produce lines shelves in markets throughout the West Coast, the nation and in some cases the world. Yoplait uses Skagit blueberries in their yogurt. QFC grocery stores sell red potatoes from Skagit growers, and grocery stores as far south as West Hollywood carry Skagit produce.
"It’s not a pick-up truck load kind of farming here," Rose said. "It’s semitruck farming. People really have to seek out and achieve regional, national and international markets for their products."
The successful farmers in the valley are maintaining and finding their niche in markets by growing superior produce and doing the packaging and marketing as well, Rose said.
"We’re pretty well complete in our facility to handle anything from barreled juice products to individually frozen berries," Sakuma said. "We can bring in our fruit from the fields and custom pack and be able to provide that product to our buyers."
Sakuma Brothers Farms is building a $6 million processing plant where they can freeze and package their berries for shipment. They are developing their own product line and sell their fresh fruit under the Sakuma Brothers label.
"I think we need to be doing creative things," Dahlstedt said. "Whatever we can do to provide positive incentives (for farming)."
The Festival of Family Farms was an effort to bring attention to local farms and the potential of their products. With 14 participating farms, visitors had a chance to see for themselves the valuable role agriculture plays in their community.
"Going to the farm is exciting and interesting," Youngquist said. "It’s education and reaching out to the community, to make them aware of what’s going on, on the farm."
The success of farmers is dependent upon access to markets and the demand
for Skagit produce, Rose said.
I-5 acts as a corridor for movement. Since its construction, the accessibility
I-5 provides has influenced where growth occurs.
"Burlington was a sleepy little town until the I-5 corridor," Fleek said.
When I-5 came through Skagit Valley it brought changes. I-5 makes development along its corridor, near its exits, and at its interchanges easy. Farmers use the interstate to move Skagit Valley produce and farm products.
"Is there a future for farming here in the Skagit Valley?"
Rose said. "We believe strongly that there is."
This fall farmers will ship truckloads of red potatoes, strawberries and
cabbage out of Skagit Valley on I-5. The balance found between the demand
for development and the demand for the products of Skagit Valley farms
will determine their future.
"Let’s get together and figure this out," Sakuma said. "If people want farming then we need to help it survive."
