Between tighter regulations, rising labor costs and the crackdown on immigration, farmers are on uncertain footing — including Washington’s iconic apple orchards.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Small family-owned farms in Washington increasingly face challenges coming from seemingly every angle, from local water regulations to rising labor costs and new concerns about the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
For the owners of Bi-Zi Farms outside Vancouver, farming is more than a full-time job; it’s a lifestyle. According to Joe Zimmerman, the farm’s finance and marketing manager, his great-great-grandparents settled on the property in 1872.
“Well, I’m kind of the owner of the place,” said Bill Zimmerman,
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