Washington Business Fall 2016 | Washington Business | Page 32

washington business Flying tractors and designer orchards. Robots, drones, and satellites. Technological innovations are transforming Washington agriculture. Agricultural technology, or agtech, has taken hold all across Washington. “Farmers love gadgets,” says John Stuhlmiller, CEO of the Washington State Farm Bureau, explaining that farmers have always been quick to adopt new technology. “When we went to smart phones, that technology turned the corner for ag as well,” he says, as producers take advantage of sophisticated guidance systems to reduce waste and duplication, lower costs and increase yields. The increase in agricultural productivity attributable to agtech has been astonishing. Nick Schulz, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute writes in a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report that “farm output was more than 170 percent higher in the late 2000s than it was in 1948. Since the early 1980s, it has increased by nearly 50 percent.” And the environment has benefitted. Schulz writes that yields soared as farm inputs — energy, land, and chemicals — remained stable. In Washington, gains are equally impressive. The Olympia regional office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided data for three major Washington crops: winter wheat, apples, and sweet cherries. From 1948 to 2015, wheat yields per acre increased nearly 90 percent; apples, 100 percent; and cherries, 184 percent. State Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, grows wheat in his eastern Washington district. “We’ve become more efficient in using fertilizer and in crop protection,” he says. “Anywhere you go, it’s a more efficient, conservationoriented industry.” Efficient, conservation-oriented and a major part of the state economy. The state Department of Agriculture reports that Washington had more than 37,000 farms in 2013 producing a wide variety of crops, led by the iconic Washington apple. Othe r top products include milk, wheat, potatoes, sweet cherries, grapes, pears, and hops. The $49 billion food and agriculture industry employs about 160,000 — Nick Schulz, Scholar, American Enterprise Institute people and amounts to about 13 percent of the state economy. “Farm output was more than 170 percent higher in the late 2000s than it was in 1948. Since the early 1980s, it has increased by nearly 50 percent.” 32 association of washington business