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Save Family Farming

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19:35

Rising Fuel Prices Hit Farmers Already Struggling...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/30

While farmers aren’t excited about higher fuel and fertilizer bills resulting from the recent conflict in Iran, the additional cost wouldn’t be as big of a threat to farms in Washington state if it weren’t for the costly decisions in Olympia that have already pushed many farms across the state to the brink of insolvency.Jason Vander Kooy, a Mount Vernon-area multigenerational family dairy farmer and Save Family Farming’s Vice President, joins Dillon with details on the

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22:15

ICE Farmworker Arrests Leave Small Whatcom Farmer...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/30

A Whatcom County berry farmer is opening up about the recent ICE arrest of two of his key employees, voicing concern about the impact federal immigration enforcement activity is having on local farming. Randy Kraght, who owns and runs Barbie’s Berries with his wife Barb, tells Dillon he’s worried about the upcoming harvest season, as reports of ICE arrests of farmworkers in northwest Washington have increased significantly within the last couple of months.

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22:15

Olympia Legislator Wants to Help WA Farming with...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/24

As word spreads of the farming viability crisis unfolding here in Washington state, leaders are beginning to talk more about efforts that could help the farming community.WA State Rep. Kristine Reeves, D-Federal Way, joins Dillon to share her perspective as House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee Chair on the growing crisis and what’s being done about it, including her work on the so-called “Washington Farm Bill.”

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21:05

Judge Extends Deadline for Whatcom Water Users

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/16

Big news for water users in Whatcom County preparing to file their court claims in the state’s water rights adjudication lawsuit: a court ruling has pushed back the filing deadline for many people, creating a single due date of June 1, 2027 for everyone.Fred Likkel, Whatcom Family Farmers‘ Executive Director, and Gavin Willis, Administrator of the Ag Water Board of Whatcom County, join Dillon with details on the March 9th decision from Whatcom County Superior Court Judge David Freeman,

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22:00

As WA Farms Struggle, New State Refrigeration Rules...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/16

Most food grown in Washington needs to be kept cool before it ends up on our plates, so refrigeration systems are critical for food and farming production across the state. While almost all farmers and others years ago changed storage refrigeration equipment to technology that protects the Earth’s ozone layer, regulators now fear the chemicals in these newer systems are a global warming risk. Because of this, lawmakers have clamped down on cold storage facilities and pushed them to convert to

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21:05

WA Farming Is Struggling More Than Ever. What’s Save...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/09

The latest data is painting a clearer picture of what Washington’s farming community has already been feeling in recent years: farming in this state is struggling more than ever.Ben Tindall, Executive Director of Save Family Farming, joins Dillon with more on what the statewide farming advocacy group is working on to elevate the awareness of the growing problem, and ultimately spur state leaders to make changes to help WA farming survive.

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20:53

Whatcom Dairy Ambassadors Share Lessons From...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/02

The Whatcom County Dairy Ambassador and her alternate are about to wrap up their term and pass on the torch.Ambassador Maddie DeLange and Alternate Sarah Van Berkum join Dillon to share what it’s like to advocate for dairy farming and dairy products in schools and at events all over the local community.

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20:53

Whatcom Dairy Ambassadors Share Lessons From...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/02

The Whatcom County Dairy Ambassador and her alternate are about to wrap up their term and pass on the torch. Ambassador Maddie DeLange and Alternate Sarah Van Berkum join Dillon to share what it’s like to advocate for dairy farming and dairy products in schools and at events all over the local community.

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20:46

Should a Farmer Who Violates Water or Air Quality...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/02

Five to 10 years in prison was the penalty lawmakers in Olympia considered enacting for people who break certain water or air quality laws in Washington state. Farmers feared a mistake on the farm could be mischaracterized as a deliberate criminal act under the proposed change. Thankfully, the misguided proposal failed to move forward in Olympia’s current session, and John Stuhlmiller, Washington State Water Resources Association Executive Director, joins Dillon with details.

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20:46

Should a Farmer Who Violates Water or Air Quality...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/03/02

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22:22

Whatcom Farm Expo to Celebrate 10 Years

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/26

For 10 years, the Whatcom Conservation District has been hosting the Whatcom Farm Expo.Alexi Guddal, District Outreach & Education Specialist, joins Dillon with details on the annual local event that’s grown bigger than ever.

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22:22

Whatcom Farm Expo to Celebrate 10 Years

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/25

For 10 years, the Whatcom Conservation District has been hosting the Whatcom Farm Expo. Alexi Guddal, District Outreach & Education Specialist, joins Dillon with details on the annual local event that’s grown bigger than ever.

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21:41

WA State’s Anti-Farming Actions On National Radar

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/23

The State of Washington’s false accusations and abusive tactics against King Ranch caught the eye of top federal officials, including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, and other state attacks on farming are also getting the attention of leading national authorities. Shad Sullivan, a 5-th generation Texas rancher and farming advocate with the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America, or R-CALF USA, joins Dillon with an outside take on Washington

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21:41

WA State’s Anti-Farming Actions On National Radar

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/23

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21:27

Activists’ Plan Would Harm Salmon in Quest to Get Rid...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/17

In their quest to get rid of Columbia River dams, activists are suing to force a dam management plan that would create river conditions deadly to endangered salmon. Adam Ratliff, Executive Director of the Center for Sustainability and Working Rivers, joins Dillon to explain anti-dam activists’ real motives behind the latest bizarre turn in the ongoing battle over the federal dams on the Columbia River system.

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21:23

Tribal Leader: Collaboration, Holistic Approach Key...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/10

With the political controversies and community conflict that have too often surrounded the issue of salmon recovery, many in the Washington farming community want to know: what do salmon actually need to recover and thrive? Scott Schuyler, a tribal elder and the Natural & Cultural Resources Policy Representative for the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, joins Dillon to explain how many issues affect salmon recovery, including some that rarely make the headlines like harbor seal predation, ocean warming

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22:19

Harmful “Card Check” Farmworker Unionization Plan...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/10

A troubling proposal for “card check” farmworker unionization and collective bargaining–that would harm farms as well as farmworkers–is still alive and moving in the 2026 legislative session currently underway in Olympia. Scott Dilley, the WA-based Worker and Farmer Labor Association’s Public Affairs Director, joins Dillon with an update on the process and more details on how the flawed plan would put farms’ futures at risk and leave farmworkers vulnerable to

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21:56

WA Farming Foe Takes Over Skagit Dam Operator Seattle...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/02/03

Farmers are asking questions after Seattle’s mayor has abruptly replaced Skagit River dam operator Seattle City Light’s leader with anti-agriculture lawyer Dennis McLerran, who boasts connections with a laundry list of manipulative and unethical attacks on farming in Washington state.Jay Gordon with the Washington State Dairy Federation joins Dillon to detail McLerran’s troubling history with farming in the state, including the widely-criticized What’s Upstream campaign, the

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20:54

Former Farmworker: WA Card-Check Unionization Plan...

Save Family Farming ·

2026/01/26

Some experts are warning that the new card-check collective bargaining system proposed in Washington state won’t be the good deal for workers that proponents promise.Alma Torres-Jones, a former farmworker who now operates her own family’s orchard, tells Dillon she fears that both farmers and farmworkers aren’t aware of the quickly-moving proposal, and won’t have time to consider the plan’s true impacts and likely negative consequences for workers as well as farms.

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22:24

Trump Administration Slams State’s Attack On Rancher

Save Family Farming ·

2026/01/26

President Trump’s Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, is coming down hard on Washington State’s Department of Ecology for its attack on an Eastern Washington rancher. And now even the EPA’s Seattle chief Emma Pokon is adding to the federal criticism of Ecology’s abusive approach. Toni Meacham, one of the attorneys helping King Ranch in the fiasco, joins Dillon with an update on the massive fines and even secret criminal investigation into the Kings, as well as insight into

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